The Wedding Business Magazine January 2017

"The world is but a canvas to our imagination." ? Henry David Thoreau

interviewwiththe Bridal bar founder Wedding Entrepreneur Harmony Walton is the go to woman for clients looking for an expert wedding service.

It'saBl ogger's Life Kat Williams of Rock N Roll Bride talks to us about blogging in 2017 and how to plan ahead.

Jan 2017

I n This I ssue 6

From the Editor A welcome note and introduction to this month's magazine theme. By Kylie Carlson

10

WED Social Preparing Your Business for the Year Ahead By Shannon DePalma

16

WED Expert Policies & Procedures All Wedding Businesses Need By Kellie Daab

26

WED Biz Better than Resolutions; 7 Challenges to Flourish in 2017 By Heather Waits

30

WEDFeature An Interview with Harmony Walton of Bridal Bar By Martha Tobyn

46

WEDBizCoach Setting yourself up for success in 2017 By Emma Etheridge

50

WED Pro An interview with Kat Williams of Rock N Roll Bride By Christine Ligthart

56

WED PR A PR Pro?s Favorite Planning Tools for 2017. By Meghan Ely

62

WED SEO The time factor of SEO. By Kathy DalPra

68

WED Inspire What it Takes to be a Social Media Influencer with Vamp Collective By Christine Ligthart

74

WED Promo 7 simple hacks to be more productive and less stressed this year.By Heidi Thompson

82

WED Guru The Purpose of a Wedding Venue Marketing Plan By Sam Lloyd

84

WED Legal Styled Shoots Gone Right: How to collaborate with friend and peers By Christina Scalera

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

Christ ina Scal era 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.christ inascal era.com

Kel l ie Daab Kellie Daab, owner of iDo Collective, is a Wedding Business Architect. She is the creator of the Wedding Business Blueprint process and provides services specifically to wedding professionals.

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: www.brideappeal .com

Contributors 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 l l oyd Based in the UK Sam is the founder of The Wedding Owl, and is an experienced, specialist wedding business consultant with extensive, practical knowledge of the Wedding Industry.

Websit e: www.t heweddingowl .com

Fromtheeditor The start of a new year is always an exciting time as everything feels fresh and new. We are all busy getting fit, giving up smoking, going on diets and generally overhauling our lives. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

So that's our personal life but what about our professional life? For those of us running a business it is the time to plan for the year ahead and look at our short term and long term goals. It shouldn't end there though. For me this is also a time to look at your achievements to date. We are very quick to judge ourselves, be super critical and all to quick to declare ourselves a failure.

This issue of the magazine is all about preparing yourself and your business for the year ahead and one of the most important things you can do is to take time out to not only look at what you want to achieve over the next 12 months, but what you achieved over the last 12 months too. Starting on a positive note is always so much better for the soul than starting on a sour note. I am excited to see what 2017 brings and I look forward to continuing to share our knowledge and experience wtih you through our magazine throughout the year.

K yliex

K ylieCarlson

TheStyled Shoot Team ?Boho Dream?as featured in NZ Bride & Groom Magazine -

Wedding Concept & Event Styling: Take A Vow Wedding Planning & Events

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Location: Markovina Vineyard Estate

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Photography: Jeremy Hill Photography

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Fashion stylist (clothes, accessories): Kellie Walker Personal Stylist

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Cake: Del Bakes

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Groom's suit: Frank Casey Newmarket

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Bride?s ?Fox?gown as part of the Nomadic Love Collection: Rue De Seine

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Make up: LeahLovesMakeup

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Flowers: The Floral Studio.

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Wedding stationery: Claire Robertson Design

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Welcome sign: Wood & Wild

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Wooden cake round: when squirrel met bear Models: Briar Houston,Luke Vine, Tori Thirlwall & Bella Houston

Quote of the

M onth

"Donot wait until theconditionsare perfect tobegin.

Beginningmakes theconditions perfect."

A lan Cohen

P reparingY our B usiness For TheY ear A head B y Shannon D eP alma

#WEDsocial

Who doesn't love the start of the New Year? It's full of so much hope, excitement, and wishes for this next year.

The possibilities are endless of what you can do with your business this year.

It could be the year you book your first high end wedding, feel confident about taking your wedding business to full time, or hire your first employee.

My favorite part about the New Year is the planning. Planning is the only way I can start the New Year with clarity about what my steps should be for the next 12 months. Also how I make sure every day, every week, and every month I'm making the right steps to grow my business.

I get clarity and focus in my business every New Year by creating a goal map.

Looking at the big picture of what I need to do to hit my revenue goals.

Here's how you can make your own goal map: 1) Creat e your revenue goal number. This number should be realistic and a bit of a stretch. For example: if you made $40,000 last year in your business, $100,000 would be realistic and a bit of a stretch.

If you made $12,000 last year and want to make $100,000, that number could be unrealistic. Creating unrealistic number goals will lead to you not trusting your decision making abilities in the future.

2) Break down your revenue goal number int o al l t he revenue income st reams you have avail abl e. Most wedding businesses have about 3 on average for income streams. For example: if you?re a wedding planner you have an income stream of full event planning, day of planning, and extra income. Extra income usually consists of working with another event planner (freelancing), styling for a client, or teaching workshops on how to be an event planner.

3) Break down your revenue goal numbers int o t hose 3 revenue st reams.

You can break them down evenly into each category or based off your last year?s income. For example: last year you brought in 60% of your income from day of coordinating, 30% from full event planning, and 10% from miscellaneous (freelancing and styling packages).

If your revenue goal number is $100,000, then you?re going to make $60,000 in day of coordination packages, $30,000 in full event planning packages, and $10,000 in your miscellaneous category.

4) Here comes t he f un part , break your revenue goal number f or each cat egory int o how many you need t o sel l of each package. For example: in order to make $60,000 in day of coordination packages, you need to sell 60 of each, let?s say you charge $1,000. Do that for all revenue income streams.

5) Bef ore you st art panicking at t hose numbers, one l ast st ep t hat is going t o make it real l y excit ing and f eel l ike your goal s are t ot al l y do abl e. Take those numbers you have of packages you need to sell and divide it by 12. For example, 60 day of coordination packages means you should be booking 5 packages a month, 5 that?s it! How do-able is that?

With that final number I create a monthly goal list and only focus on that monthly number. If you?re number is to book 5 packages a month, the only thing you need that month is to focus you?re marketing on booking those packages and nothing else!

This type of focus and clarity is what will get you to being on your way of hitting your revenue goals. Now you know every day, every week, and every month that you're making the right steps to grow your business.

Words by Shannon DePalma

This issue of the Wedding Business Magazine is all about time management and productivity. On the next page is a video taken from our Academy TV Playlist on YouTube. The Academy produces free-to-air videos as part of our course curriculum to show the quality of the education provided to our students.

settinggoal sasawedding pl anner in2017

P olicies and P rocedures Every W eddingB usiness N eeds B y K ellieD aab

#WEDexpert With the emerging millennial generation and their ever increasing "connected" mindset, it's becoming more and more essential that wedding businesses have a clear understanding of their policies and procedures; and how to carry them out in your everyday client encounters. By defining your policies and procedures in clear and relate-able terms you'll not only create standard operating procedures for your clients but you'll also design a structure your business can rely on.

Start creating your policies and procedures by creating guidelines around the following 5 areas of your business.

Business Hours: With the use of smart phones and mobile devices your clients are likely reaching out to you from many different platforms at varied times of the day. They know how to reach you and as a result, their expectations of business response times have changed. We're seeing a huge rise in clients stating that response time is a major factor in their final booking decisions. But we're also well aware that clients are researching and sending inquiries most often after midnight. That's why it's so important to define specific business hours for your company. Realistically, you might be working all hours of the day but by defining specific hours for telephone calls, email responses, and meetings - you establish boundaries with your current and future clients. This way, clients will much more readily accept and understand when they can reach you, when you will respond, and what to expect from your business. Without specific business hours, you'll likely find yourself feeling the crunch of late night responses and fielding messages from clients at all hours.

Communicat ion St andards: Once you've defined when you're available to your current and future clients, then you'll need to take it a step further and tell them how you'll communicate with them. By creating a communication policy for your business, you'll be able to set clear rules for yourself, as well as your clients. Answer these questions while deciding your communication standards. What forms of communication are acceptable? Email, Text, Direct Messaging, Pinterest Boards, or a tweet? How will you respond to your client? Will you use a collaborative messaging tool? Can they send you communication on several different platforms? What form of communication is accepted for changes to their event? When should a client expect to hear from you? Do you answer single question emails or request clients to gather all of their questions in more in-depth email?

Millennials move between mobile devices reportedly 27 times in a single hour.

All forms of communication have become accepted. All of these platforms are interchangeable and can be equally used as a method for response. This means you may send your clients an email that includes your cell phone number in the signature, and receive a text response in return. This begins the communication juggle and sometimes allows correspondence to fall through the cracks. Stop this from happening by creating clear and finite lines for communications. State these policies in your emails, during onboarding, and anytime that a client doesn't follow your standard operating procedures. By having your communication policies in writing, you'll also have a back up plan for answering demanding clients or communication concerns.

The key to creating a communication policy that sticks, falls into your lap as the business owner. If you've asked your client not to text you, avoid texting them from the rental shop. If Facebook isn't your preferred route for communication, avoid tagging clients in articles or inspirational images. You have to be the leader in your own policies and procedures.

Pl anning Process: With online project management systems becoming the norm for wedding businesses, workflow, templates, and planning processes are becoming more important to the overall success of client care. Using collaboration tools with clients like Aisle Planner, Trello, Basecamp, or Honeybooks is essential to millennial clients. They believe that the planning process is meant to be collaborative and they want to have a say in every detail. By creating a system of steps for working with you, clients will be aware of what to expect of your services, when you'll be working on their events, and the step-by-step process you'll be taking with them from booking to the wedding date. Once you've created that system, you can begin to create planning templates, schedule planning milestone emails, and building out the planning worksheets you'll use with your clients.

Cont ract ing, Invoices and Payment s: Many believe that the contract you send to clients IS your policies and procedures, but the contract is simply one single step in the overall picture of your standard operating procedures. Very clear and legal concise contracts are an absolute must for your business. They create a safe guard for you and your client relationship. They also lay out your pricing structure, payment schedule, and payment methods. But have you considered including late fees, overtime, or breech clauses? What happens upon cancellation? What happens when a client bounces a payment? Your policies and procedures need to be expressive and relayed in more ways than simply your contract. Be sure to create these policies and contractual agreements with your clients in various ways.

Gathering these policies and procedures in an onboarding package that you'll deliver when clients become more serious about your services is a great step in creating balance, boundaries, and clear expectations for your wedding business.

And is a great step as you plan for 2017 and the years ahead!

Words by Kellie Daab

TheA dvanced D iploma in Special Event P lanning& D esign Weddings, Events, Planning, Design, your own business, or a stellar career with an established consultancy; you want it all and you can have it! Your career can be whatever you can imagine it to be and when you choose our Advanced Diploma in Special Event Planning & Design you will be equipping yourself with the skills and knowledge to be able to choose your own career path. Learn more about our most comprehensive course ever by watching this video.

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Contact a campus near you to find out more about how you can become an Accredited Wedding & Event Planner

#WEDEdu ANNUALDESTINATIONWEDDINGPLANNERSCONGRESS Dat e: May 2nd-4th , 2017 Locat ion: Phuket, Thailand Websit e: www.destinationweddingcongress.com

BASHCONFERENCE Dat e: February 15th-17th, 2017 Locat ion: Arizona Websit e: www.bashconference.com

THRIVECREATIVEconference Dat e: February 24th-26th, 2017 Locat ion: Texas Websit e: www.thrivecreativeevents.com

We're all about education so love to share the latest workshops, conferences and educational events we hear about from across the globe.

exotic weddingpl anningconference Dat e: April 5th & 6th, 2017 Locat ion: Dubai, UAE Websit e: www.dubai.weddingplanningconference.com

ARTFULBUSINESSCONFERENCE Dat e: May 27th & 28th, 2017 Locat ion: Brisbane, Queensland Websit e: www.artfulbusinesscommunity.com

THEINTRIGUEDEXPERIENCE Dat e: February 26th-28th, 2017 Locat ion: Kent Island Maryland Websit e: www.theintriguedexperience.com

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!

Plan for a successful year on Instagram with new tools to help you design and manage your feed.

- ScheduGram If you have more than one Instagram account (and I know so many of us do) you need this tool. SceduGram enables you to manage multiple accounts, schedule posts and it allows for web uploading of video and images.

Website: www.schedugram.com

- Layout fromInstagram This is an app from Instagram which enables you to create collages of images (without the need for an external app).

Simply choose the images you want to use, select a layout and then play around with tools such as 'flipping and rotating', to create seriously creative collages for your page.

Website: www.apple.com

- Plann This is a visual design and scheduling App for Instagram that enables you to 'Plann' the perfect feed.

Website: www.plannthat.com

- Planoly This is another tool that will help you to plan and schedule your activities on Instagram. We like this one for the 'analyze' & 'comments' features.

Website: www.planoly.com

- Bitly Bitly does more than just shorten your links; Bitly is a link management platform & if you are serious about marketing on Instagram (or any social media platform) you should take a closer look at features which help you, track sales and understand where your customers are coming from.

Website: www.bitly.com

B y H eather W aits

#WEDBIZ

B etter than Resolutions; 7 Challenges to Flourishin 2017 you are going to franchise or sell it, even

Hat e new year resol ut ions? Me too.

if you have no plans to. You may not So instead, I challenge you: Do what?s right? treat your business like a business and it will flourish in 2017.

have employees today, but someday you are going to need help. Write a company handbook, including polices on how to

out .

handle every possible situation you may

Bookkeeping done right . I know I know,

encounter (examples: How much down

you are most likely not a numbers fan.

to hold a date? When is the balance due?

But this is part of owning a business and

What

if you fail at this, you will crash and burn.

weather

Quickly. The object of being in business

procedures where you document exactly

is to MAKE MONEY, so let?s do that. Learn

how to do each task, step-by-step.

the basic bookkeeping terms: cash flow;

Side-note: If you do ever sell your

Profit and Loss Statement; Cost of Goods

business, this will make it more valuable.

Chal l enge

1:

Cash

in,

Cash

Sold; Balance Sheet; Assets; Liabilities; Revenue; Expenses; Budgeting and so on.

Invest in Quickbooks or another online accounting program and take a class on how to use it. Or, better yet, hire a bookkeeper to do it for you BUT always pay close attention to your money.

is refundable? What contingency

is your

plan?)

and

Chal l enge 3: Market l ike a Pro. You don?t see The CEO of Target handing out business cards he printed on his home printer, do you? And although frugal, Warren Buffet hires a marketing team to create Dairy Queen?s advertisements. I?m not saying you need to hire a firm to do

Chal l enge 2: Set Up Shop. Ever read the

your marketing, but you can study the

book,

Gerber

fundamentals of marketing and what

emphasis to set up your business like

some of the big-shots are doing and use

The

eMyth?

Michael

it as a baseline for your own marketing.

advance me? Reach a goal? Move me

In my flower shop, I?ve studied carefully

forward? If the answer is no, don?t do it.

over the years what other retailers both big and small do and implemented many ideas that have us on our way to a million-dollar a year business.

Chal l enge 7: Invest in Yoursel f . Oh you know the basics, eat right and exercise.

But you also need to add: invest in personal development and spend time

Chal l enge 5: Organize It?s proven, you

doing the things you love. Eating right

can

are

and exercise will keep you healthy, but

organized. Working at a messy desk will

doing the things you love will make you

only discourage you, so spend an

glow, and that

afternoon creating the ultimate office

business! People will be infected by

space! Whip out your label maker and

your happiness and WANT you to be

buy some of those cute organizers you

their wedding pro, all because you glow.

saw at the store. You?ll be proud of what

It?s contagious.

accomplish

more

if

you

you created and more motivated!

will

show in your

So forget new year resolutions, and start

Chal l enge 6: Product ivit y Tim Ferris

working on your business and treating it

says, ?Focus on being productive instead

like a business. You?ll be amazed what

of busy.? Busy work just takes up your

will happen by the end of the year! In

time.

you

fact, I want you to send me an email on

forward. Although you must do some

December 31, 2017 and tell me where

busy work, like check your email, you

you started and where you are now.

can schedule that and not let it take over

I can?t wait to hear!

Productive

work

moves

your day. Only check your email once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Respond, then delete. Schedule your activities, especially if you have limited time to work on your wedding business, so you get more done. Have a daily agenda.

And

ask

yourself

when

considering new projects, is this going to

Glow, baby, glow. 2017 is your year.

Words by Heather Waits

A n I nterviewwith H armony W alton

#WEDFeature Harmony Walton is the founder of The Bridal Bar and host of Bridal Bar Radio, and has over a decade of marketing, consulting and brand representation experience in the luxury wedding industry.

As a wedding business consultant and wedding expert, Harmony speaks frequently around the world to both consumers and companies. Her true passion lies within connecting couples with brands, and brands with opportunities to increase their market share and scope of influence.

The Bridal Bar is a haven f or t he coupl e l ooking f or wedding pl anning and design assist ance. To someone who doesn?t know your business al ready how do you expl ain t he concept behind it , and how you came up wit h t he idea?

Think of The Bridal Bar like your wedding concierge ? for couples it?s a totally free, friendly expert to help them connect with the right companies for their unique wedding needs based on budget, style, location, and other individual priorities. We represent some of the best companies in the wedding business and we?re here to help couples find only the best businesses for their big day. We offer complimentary information, education, and inspiration, and that helps to influence the right vendor recommendations so couples make smart buying decisions. And for those approved companies that we work with, we are their marketing agency.

We offer a wide range of project based campaigns to long-term retainer programs for companies around the globe seeking to market to the luxury wedding space.

The idea originally stemmed from a friend?s wedding when she had a horrible experience with a reputable (or so she thought) wedding photographer and the

"I always have something in the pipeline - I think that's the sign of an entrepreneur!" need for more tailored recommendations, curated information, and reference checked companies became apparent. An ad in a magazine doesn?t make for a seamless wedding experience but what we do at The Bridal Bar helps to safeguard that process while making it fun and easy to do. At the same time, I saw the clutter of the professional side of the market and realized companies also needed a more curated, individual and tailored way to grow and market their businesses, so I married the two sides and The Bridal Bar was born.

You f ound a gap in t he market and you f ol l owed your inst inct t o t urn it int o a successf ul business. In t he compet it ive market of wedding and event s what are your t ips f or peopl e want ing t o f ind t heir niche?

My best advice would be to ignore the clutter and chaos in the market (it?s bad for your soul and your business) and be okay with being different. In a world of social media stories all looking the same, it?s hard to choose to swim upstream and fly your own ?freak flag? but in the end, the couples that want your kind of special sauce will love you that much more for it. The Bridal Bar took off right away because it was different, not the same old story. So I firmly believe that being different, figuring out what makes you or your business you, is what will make you successful if you are able to share and communicate that.

What is key t o t he experience you of f er your cl ient s? And how do you t ransl at e t he experience of your bricks and mort ar business t o your digit al one?

Our key experience is that it?s a personal one. We all know weddings are personal and couples want their wedding to be personalized, but a lot of times the business of planning a wedding isn?t. If it?s a celebrity client and they need total discretion and want us to setup a show and tell in their home, we?ll make it happen and make it fun and unique to them. If it?s a destination wedding and the couple needs to feel a level of confidence with companies across the globe, we?ll do the legwork to

make that happen. We over-deliver for them and certainly undercharge and that builds a level of trust with our clients that they don?t always feel when planning a wedding.

In terms of the digital business, that?s where we are taking the company. That?s also how we grow and how we are now able to service both couples and companies around the world (more and more of our brands are not based where we started). Sure we will always offer a level of face-to-face experiences, but we also go where the market needs us to and couples prefer to plan digitally now as well as companies who prefer to market that way. So we?ll always be rooted in one-on-one service, that?s who we are and what makes us in part different, but for both companies and couples, we?re creating a more virtual experience in order to offer our clients what they want and service the market globally since people are no longer just shopping locally.

You have grown your business t o incl ude product s and wider services. Do you have anyt hing current l y in t he pipel ine, and what are your t ips f or successf ul business expansion in 2017?

I always have something in the pipeline ? I think that?s the sign of an entrepreneur!

I am constantly looking at what?s next and I do have several balls in the air for 2017. But that?s the thing about small business, you need to have several big ideas going as not all are going to be great or even materialize. So that being said, for 2017 expansion, you?ll just have to wait and see. And in the meantime, we?re still working hard on all our brand extensions, focusing more and more on Bridal Bar Radio on America?s Talk and iHeartRadio this year and developing more of our Jet Fete, destination weddings brand and a little of my own, over at HarmonyWalton.com. 2017 is going to be a fun year!

Some of our readers wil l be l aunching t heir own businesses t his year.

As someone who is passionat e about connect ing brands wit h opport unit ies, what do you l ook f or in a brand t o award t hem The Bridal Bar pref erred vendor seal ?

Of course we look for someone we can trust, that we can put our name behind without worry or fear for our couples. That comes in a lot of forms, but it does come with experience so while we do work with new companies from time to time, there does need to be a history there, either of the owner or clients. But once we?ve done the core foundational work of whether or not this is a business brides and grooms can trust (with oodles of talent of course), it?s really about ?can we sell them?? If a business is cookie cutter or generic, we typically don?t take them on as clients because there?s nothing that makes them special, exciting to couples, and fun to promote. Now part of what we do is draw out what makes them incredible, so sometimes we?ll take a really talented company and create opportunities that make them different and more marketable, but in those cases we look for people up for anything and willing to think outside the box because there?s a lot of talent in this industry and talent isn?t always enough unfortunately.

There is somet hing about January and t he st art of a new year t hat makes us al l int rospect ive. Many of our readers are using t his t ime f or a ?spring cl ean?, and set t ing t heir business goal s f or t he coming year. How do you l ike t o approach t he New Year f or your business?

I like to do it in Nov/ Dec the year before! January is booking season for the bulk of wedding professionals, so if you?re just starting to turn it around now, you?re late to your own party. But better late than never, of course! I like to approach the new year focusing on the kinds of clients I want to work with in the coming months, the types of projects I want to work on and how I can shift what I?m doing to appeal to more of those ideal situations. That changes year after year at times, so it?s a constant slight pivot to attract more of what we want at The Bridal Bar in the

coming year. That can be as simple as changing some language or messaging or even launching a new program in my business or even an event geared towards targeting what I want to do this year and with whom. It can even mean reaching out to those I want to work with and asking. I?m always surprised to hear how few people ask for what they want in business and it?s always served me well, I have no fear in that rejection. No matter how I do it, I?m always looking for a little bit of something new and different in my daily life, and I want to attract clients that keep my business challenging and fun at the same time. After 13 years, I don?t always want to do the exact same thing so I have to go out and create it for myself.

You recent l y cont ribut ed t o our Int ernat ional Wedding Trend Report 2017.

Wit h t rends being born and re-made al l t he t ime, how do you l ike t o keep up t o dat e and inspired?

In terms of trends, I like to look at a few key innovators globally that inspire me personally. I don?t typically follow a ton of wedding blogs, though there are some, simply because a lot of it feels repetitive, and for that same reason, I avoid Pinterest. I love interior design and that helps me stay ahead of the wedding trend

gh

curve since so much of our industry?s inspiration starts in home dĂŠcor before hitting us in events. And it?s what I enjoy personally so it simply sparks more of my creativity. That being said, I?m certainly not a designer so I do take a backseat to those that do it and do it well and I lean on them more than anything.

We l ove put t ing t oget her each edit ion of The Wedding Business Magazine. How do you get inspirat ion f or t he weekl y t heme of your radio show, and how do you keep it f resh t o engage your audience?

Sometimes I feel like it?s not as fresh as it could be since I cover a lot of what I love, and should probably hit on more of the market than just what inspires me! But that?s also what makes it different I suppose.

I get most of my show ideas from people I meet or places I go. Sure, we cover the basics of fashion week and gown trends to how to plan a menu and pick your venue; I want there to be a ton of information that helps people logistically plan and arm themselves with information ? so they can ultimately make smarter buying

decisions. But beyond that, if I meet an event professional with a unique perspective or style that I love or I visit a place perfect for weddings, I?ll build a show around it.

The show is really about the guest so I come up with topics around dynamic guests and they become the magic that hour. When I?m able to draw out what makes them great and share their expertise with others, that?s when everyone wins. So I get out and experience the event industry and design my show around what?s out there that?s exceptional.

For many st art ing out in business put t ing t oget her a market ing pl an can be quit e daunt ing. Wit h your successf ul f eat ures in media out l et s such as The New Yorker and Mart ha St ewart Weddings, as wel l as your background in edit orial and broadcast ing, what is your advice f or get t ing your business not iced in 2017?

Be different! That?s always my answer, regardless of the year, because come 2018 if you just jumped on the bandwagon this year, where does that leave you next year?

That doesn?t mean you can?t embrace what the market is asking for, but do it your own way and don?t just change for others, make others want what you have without asking to be changed. The media loves trailblazers, not cookie cutters. The second piece of advice for getting in the media I would give is to ask. Don?t wait for the phone to ring. Pitch yourself! Come up with unique storytelling (not just self-serving) angles that make an outlet have to feature you and want to know you.

Find your niche and find the stories within the current market that support your niche, be giving of your expertise and get out there and ask for it and you just might be surprised at what you get back. And of course, be nice. Kindness goes a long way in this world and in the media.

For anyone wit h an aspirat ion t o t ake on t he l uxury side of t he wedding market , in your experience, what best def ines l uxury service?

Luxury service is something different to everyone. For some, it could be a partner-in-crime to plan their wedding with, for others it could be the joy of handing it all over to someone and never looking back again until the wedding day. So I would say, luxury is personal service. What is personal luxury to that couple and tapping into giving them that ride. It?s typically not packages, but bespoke

experiences, and a quality of experience that is authentic in whatever you do, delivered in a way that is actually over-delivering. The top of the market has seen it all, so how can you make them feel a sense of trust, ease, relaxation, authenticity, and amazement all at once?

The Bridal bar expanded int o t he dest inat ion wedding market wit h t he l aunch of t he Jet Fet e bl og. Why do you t hink t hat t ravel nupt ial s are becoming so popul ar wit h coupl es, and what are t he benef it s and chal l enges of pl anning a dest inat ion wedding?

Travel has become more popular in weddings because it?s become more popular in life. Travel is more affordable and accessible than ever before and this generation is the most well travelled by the time they tie the knot so the idea of a destination wedding isn?t scary; it?s attainable and exciting and part of what they already know and love. Plus, who doesn?t want to extend a wedding day into three or four?

The benefits are of course that extended time celebrating with friends and family, getting to show loved ones another part of the world, a vacation for all, and a different experience than the weddings you?ve gone to back home. The challenges can certainly be language barriers, weather, a level of expectation you may have that the locals, depending on where, may not be accustomed to, and personally I think narrowing down where to wed is a big challenge, there are so many great places to go!

You yoursel f l ove t o t ravel . What are your t op t ravel dest inat ions? Is t here anywhere on your hit l ist f or 2017?

For weddings, I love Riviera Maya and Los Cabos in Mexico. The destinations are fantastic, easily accessible, they can be affordable at times, and the industry talent there is incredible ? their businesses rival any in a big city in the US so you know you get quality. The talent in Italy is also amazing, as is the food, the sites where you can wed, and while it?s a bit more expensive to get to, it?s that once-in-a-lifetime experience. Cartagena in Colombia, South America offers

incredible values and such a magical cultural experience and celebration that can?t be beat. There are so many places I love, each different and ideal for a different couple and group. The Bahamas, Costa Rica, Bermuda, Australia, Hawaii, Greece, too many to name!

On my hit list this year is South Africa, that?s a bucket list spot for me and there?s planning underway for a trip later in the year. I?d also love to explore more of South America, and Northern Africa, especially Morocco. But really, anywhere I haven?t been in on my hit list, I want to see the world (and return to some old favorites too).

Running a business can t ake up so much t ime and energy. What do you do t o rel ax and unwind?

I sleep! I don?t have kids so I have the luxury of sleep when I need it and it helps a lot. I also love the food and wine scene in different cities I visit and have a lot of fun unwinding at a great restaurant with good friends. And I try to dedicate an hour a day to a gym class, which helps me tremendously with stress and just working through my thoughts in general.

You say you ended up in t he wedding indust ry due t o several meant -t o-be moment s. In one sent ence how woul d you sum up what you l ove about working in weddings?

The people.

I love how social this industry is and all the incredible people I?ve met along the way and now call friends. It?s a global industry that connects me to people I never would have met otherwise and I absolutely love that about what I do.

Interview by Martha Tobyn

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. You can check our our International Wedding Trend Report for 2017 which is currently the feature video on our Channel but clicking the button below.

intheir shoes K imSayatovicof B elladeux Event D esign An up close and personal interview with Kim Sayatovic, owner of New-Orleans based events firm Belladeux Event Design. She walks us through her methods of evaluating business progress, as well as how she plans out for the year ahead.

"Remember: Planning ahead doesn?t have to be a chore. Set aside some time to hone in on the goals that will help take your business to the next level."

Your company special izes in f ul l -service event pl anning and design and, in t his compet it ive market , what makes Bel l adeux Event Design st and out ?

When it comes down to it, I think there are three things in particular that make me stand out from my competition (besides my purple hair, of course!). Primarily, it?s my designs ? each designer and planner brings their own aesthetics to the table and I am no different with my crazy, over-the-top ideas. Next would be my work ethic. I am personally onsite with my clients from setup until breakdown. My assistants are often right by my side but, at the end of the day, I am the owner and my reputation is what I can call my own. Lastly, my relationships with my vendors is a major factor that sets me apart. I grew up in New Orleans and worked in the service industry for a long time.

Although my clients are very important and I treat them like kings and queens, I couldn?t do what I do without my vendors.

What drew you t o t he event s indust ry and what prompt ed you t o open your own business?

I have always loved making others happy, whether it?s through throwing surprise parties, finding the perfect gift or even just being a shoulder to cry on. This led me to become the friend that always threw the parties. When I went to college, I started

studying public relations and realized that the event side of that industry is where I really shine. I also have a very creative mind and needed an outlet for the crazy ideas in my head. Event planning seemed like the perfect fit.

How do you f ind a bal ance bet ween event design and coordinat ion?

Balance is always a struggle, but the way I schedule an event is what works best for me.

I write out timelines for each phase of the design and planning. For example, if an event is one year away, I give myself 3-4 months for design, 6-8 months for production and 1-2 weeks for the management. By dividing out each phase, both parties know the expectations on time and it helps me keep my balance.

What were your 2016 goal s f or Bel l adeux Event Design and how woul d you rat e your progress?

My 2016 goals were as follows: -

To hire a full-time employee

-

To book an event over 1,000 people

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To have the business cover all expenses without having to invest more money.

-

I was able to accomplish my first two goals but I am not quite at goal 3. Goal 3 will become number 1 on my 2017 goal list.

How do you eval uat e t he ret urn of your business devel opment ?

First and foremost, I look to see how many proposals I sent out versus how many jobs I secured. I also look at the sources of my contracted business, so I can see how many clients I gained from previous client referrals as opposed to advertising dollars.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the bottom line ? how does my revenue compare to my expenses? Analytics are my friend and I keep track of every new lead that I get, so I know how many clients I book versus how many reached out.

What are your best pract ices f or mapping out t he year ahead?

I sit on the board for the local International Live Events Association chapter and we spend two full days together at a retreat mapping out our year. I do the same for my own business. I set aside a full day or even two in January to map out my entire upcoming year. If I can dedicate two full days to a volunteer position, there is no excuse to not do the same for my own business.

What are some t ips f or event prof essional s t o st ay ahead of t rends?

Look outside of your traditional industry for inspiration. Pay attention to fashion week and new clothing trends for color and style inspiration. Keep an eye on social trends as well. College graduates become the social changes and decision makers very quickly and their interests are what drives our industry.

What are your t op 5 t ips f or business pl anning in 2017?

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Don?t worry about what others are doing. Focus on your own business.

-

Write down your financial goals as well as your business growth goals.

If you don?t write it down, you can?t make it happen.

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If you don?t have one, create a business plan. It?s clichĂŠ, but you are planning to fail if you don?t have a plan.

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Keep your goals simple. Long term goals are great, but you need to have a smaller set of yearly goals to feel a sense of accomplishment and keep yourself motivated.

-

Create a budget. You absolutely have to keep yourself accountable with spending and, if you don?t write it down, it?s easy to overspend.

Words by Meghan Ely

www.bel l adeuxevent s.com

Y ou H aveToK eepTaking A ction Each& Every D ay

B y Emma Etheridge Welcome 2017! Starting a new year often gives us that combined feeling of excitement and nervousness. Excitement that we can re-assess our business, review what has worked, what has not and set plans for 2017 wedding world domination! Nervousness that we don?t really know whether it is all going to work!

This blend is normal. It is expected. The journey of building, growing and nurturing a business is an uncertain one and almost every business out there is ?winging it? (to a point).

So how you can you set yourself up for success in 2017?

1. You need t o know where you are heading. If you don?t have a destination in mind you will take longer to get there. So spend some time thinking about what you really want to achieve this year. What would you LOVE to say you have done by the end of the year? That is your direction.

2. Now you know t he direct ion, what is t he rout e you are going t o t ake? Next is to spend time thinking about what projects will get you where you want to be. What actions do you need to take in order to achieve the goal for the year? This may be to launch a new product or service offering, it may be to rebrand, it may be to focus on blogging, collaborations or your website. Think of all of the things that you know will work to growing your business.

3. Priorit ise. Once you have a list of projects, look at them all and see which one will have the biggest impact on your business right now. There is no point in working on an advertising project if your website just doesn?t cut it. There is no point in working on refining and finessing your after sales care if you are not promoting or selling any of your services. So you need to think about what will have the biggest impact to your business now and start there.

4. Make a pl an! Next you need to make a loose plan of what projects you are going to do throughout the year. Here we don?t want to get super specific on date, but

#wedbizcoach we want to try and break those projects down throughout the 12 months. I always advise my clients to work in 90 day chucks. One big project or three smaller projects every 90 days. 90 Days is long enough to see change but short enough to keep you focussed. Working this way also allows you to be flexible because we all know how much business, life and this industry can change!

5. Focus on project # 1 and break it down. Make it actionable. Make it realistic.

Brainstorm all the individual steps you need to take to get to the end, and commit to taking them. This is important and this is where most people fall off track. You have to break the big project down and you have to book time in the diary to focus on the actions, tick them off and work through them.

6. Review and move on. At the end of the project, make sure you build some time in to review what worked and what didn?t so you can learn from your experience, this is where you have to pull those CEO pants up and be the boss of your business.

A love note from me about planning?

Everyone is at a different part of their wedding business journey, so focus on you and focus on what feels right for where you are right now. Your plans should be loved, cared for and carefully considered. They shouldn?t be a list of things that you think you ?should? be doing because that is what Mrs Competitor is doing. Your plan should be made up of projects that are right for you, for your heart, for your journey and for your future. Every-single-thing you do in your business should be there to get you closer to the big dream, or what I like to call it, your North Star. The thing high up, that you look towards, that you reach for, that lights your path.

Now, saying all this, there is a thing called over planning which basically means when you sit and think and dream and write but don?t take any action. You plan planning and then you plan that plan a little bit more. You have to take action and you shouldn?t stop taking action. You have to keep taking action each and everyday in your business to grow.

So go take that action that will get you the wedding business you want. Take the action with purpose, intent and confidence and you will achieve.

Here?s to 2017 success!

Words by Emma Etheridge

#wedpro K at W illiams Launched in 2007, Rock n Roll Bride is one of the biggest wedding blogs in the world. Updated daily, the site and it?s accompanying print magazine attracts quirky, alternative and creative readers from all over the planet.

The brainchild of Kat Williams, the site came about while she was planning her own wedding in 2008. After becoming jaded by the limited offerings of the UK wedding industry, Kat saw a niche for alternative wedding inspiration and ran with it!

Rock n Roll Bride magazine, a bi-monthly, nationally available magazine was launched in 2015. Issue 1, released in January of that year, was reported by the distribution company as the fastest and best selling debut issue of a magazine ever. It also sold out for online orders within 72 hours, with over 1000 copies selling in the first day alone. The magazine is available online via rocknrollbride.com/ shop.

w w w.r ock n r ollbr ide.com

Kat f or our readers who are not f amil iar wit h your work, coul d you int roduce yoursel f and what you are passionat e about t o us?

I am the Editor of Rock N Roll Bride Blog and print Magazine. I started it in 2007/ 08 to document my own wedding planning and during that time that I realised there was a gap in the market for anything alternative. Whilst planning my wedding I found that it was literally impossible to find inspiration, tips or advice for anything that was ?quirky? and that is really where Rock N Roll Bride came from.

Today my passions are the same as they were when I started; to inspire brides and grooms to have a wedding that reflects who they are and to feel good about themselves and project that into their wedding and their life as well.

In t his edit ion of t he Wedding Business Magazine we are t al king about preparing your business f or t he year ahead. Thinking about your f irst year in business and comparing it t o how you wil l approach 2017, has anyt hing changed?

I am very much a ?let?s see what happens and go with the flow type of person?and that is how I have always approached Rock N Roll Bride and it works for us .

Obviously we have internal goals that we set each year in terms of growing our readership and things like that, but when it comes to new ventures and collaborations, I always tend to see what happens, because traditionally these things have tended to happen very organically for me.

For example, collaborations tend to happen because I have become friends with someone and we decide to collaborate and the magazine came about because we decided to give some away for free at a wedding show and they were really popular. I really believe that with an online business it is very important to stay ahead of the curve and listen to what is resonating with your audience. In this way you are always planning and not just at the beginning of the year.

Through your work wit h t he Bl ogcademy and of course your own bl og, you have been invol ved in 'bl ogging' and t he 'bl ogger's l if e' f or a number of years. Has 'bl ogging' changed signif icant l y since you st art ed and are t here any changes t hat we shoul d be preparing f or, when it comes t o how we writ e and publ ish bl ogs?

Blogging has 100% changed since I started. When I started my blog in 2007 there was no Pinterest or Instagram and Twitter might have been around, but not many people were using it and even Facebook was not widely used for discussing weddings yet. My blog really started from me being on online private forums where I was talking about my wedding and it grew from a desire to have

my own platform to do this. So in those days, blogging started really innocently, as a way to talk about something and that wasn?t really happening on social media in the way it is now.

The way people interact with information is very different these days and it has become much harder to attract people to a blog and away from social media. If you are starting a blog today, you need to be very clear about what your blog is about; anyone starting out today has to have a very legitimate reason to be blogging.

Even with my own blog, we find that there are people who will only read the post on Facebook and not follow the link to read the full post on the blog and we now get people coming up to us and telling us they love our Facebook page and we have to remind them that we also have a blog.

I also think that it is now difficult, if not impossible to make a living solely from your blog. When I first started we generated income from banner advertising and Google Adsense, which we do still use, but the revenue has not grown comparatively with the growth of our readership and these are no longer forms of revenue we can rely solely upon to make money. You can no longer have a simple advertising based blog and make a good amount of money from it, you have to have another plan. At the Blogcademy we always taught that your blog has to be a platform for something else and that it shouldn?t be your sole focus; for example I have the magazine and others use their

blogs to sell themselves as a speakers, or as platforms to help promote their online courses.

Know why you are blogging and use your blog to help raise your profile and make money from other revenue streams.

Do you agree t hat some of t his has come down t o t he f act t hat we have al l become so used t o ?quick hit s? of inf ormat ion, t hrough our growing use of social media and how do you respond t o t hat shif t as a bl ogger? Do you need t o give your social media pages t he same at t ent ion as your bl og and acknowl edge t hat t here wil l be peopl e who choose t o onl y int eract wit h you on t hose pl at f orms?

I do agree with that and I think that you have to suck it up and realise that people interact with information differently today and that goes back to my last point about not just relying on banner advertising as a way to make money from blogging. But I do find that if I share a meaty, more personal post or really helpful advice for someone planning their wedding, people will click through and read it, but if it is a Styled Shoot, or a real wedding for example, they may only click through to look at the pictures, unless they are particularly

interested in the story.

Int erest ingl y even t hough we of t en hear t hat print is dead, you have a successf ul print magazine, can you give us some of t he background t o t hat ?

We were invited to go to a wedding fair in 2009/ 10 and we came up with the idea of doing a flyer to show what the blog was about. This led to us doing a yearly print edition, because people really responded to it and from there it grew to a bi-monthly magazine that we sell in stores. Whilst people do discover the magazine first, most of our readers would come to the magazine because they enjoy the blog. That is a bit of a reverse trend but I think wedding magazines will always have a place as people are hungry for information to help them plan their wedding. The magazine has become another source of revenue for our blog and goes back to what we talked about earlier in terms of finding things to generate income, outside of your blog.

Somet hing t hat a l ot of business owners l ike t o do is pause at t he end of t he year and pl an ahead f or t he success of t heir business. Is t his somet hing you do and if so what t ips do you have f or someone who may be doing t his f or t he f irst t ime t his year?

Interview by Christine Ligthart

I do think that it is important to look back at the achievements of the last year and use that to plan for the next year. I think that with any goal you have, you need to be specific when setting it, for example; I want ten new clients next year. It doesn?t work to just say; I want more clients, or for my business to get bigger. You need to look back at what you have achieved within the previous year and how you did that, so you can set realistic and achievable goals for your business for the year ahead.

We have a l ot of readers who bl og as a way t o promot e t heir wedding business and I of t en hear f rom t hem t hat bl ogging is hard in t erms of f inding t ime and knowing what t o bl og about . Do you have any t ips f or how t o pl an your bl ogging, so it is easier?

The first thing I would say is if you don?t want to blog, don?t blog. There are many successful businesses that don?t blog, so if you hate it, don?t do it. I do think you should blog, but if you don?t want to, don?t, or outsource it.

In terms of content and what will bring readers to your blog, think about who your ideal customer is and what information is going to help them plan their wedding. For example, my ideal

reader is someone who has just started planning her wedding and she wants something quirky and alternative, so I will write about things that attract her; such as how to rock tattoos on your wedding day, or where to find a black wedding dress. These are the type of posts that are always more popular. I find that whilst people will always click through and look at real weddings, it is the meaty posts that turn people into subscribers.

Planning out your posts will also help you to stay on track, so you do know what you are posting from week to week and don?t go missing from your blog for weeks. It is important to be consistent, whether for you if that is weekly, 3 times a week, or daily. The only thing worse than not blogging, is having a blog that hasn?t been touched in months and appears to have been abandoned. This leads to anyone finding it concluding that you are no longer in business. So planning out your content and what you will be posting about and when, can help avoid you neglecting your blog.

Interview by Christine Ligthart

"Set realistic and achievable goals for your business for the year ahead"

#wedpr

B y M eghan Ely

A PR Pro?s Favorit e Pl anning Tool s f or 2017 With the 2017 wedding season upon us, it is time to get your proverbial ducks in order and get yourself organized for the year ahead. If you are hoping to bring in more business and increase your bottom line, it may be time to look your public relations efforts (or lack thereof). Chances are most of us could do a little more to get our brands out there, but it can be difficult to make time for PR and marketing when your day-to-day is filled with vendor research, guest lists and floor plans.

Luckily, there are a number of resources available to aid in streamlining your processes keeping your business operations as efficient as possible. I have done the dirty work of trying out countless programs and apps in search of the best available and, over time, I have found several that I have grown to love and have incorporated into our daily work.

Here are some of my favorite tools to make PR an achievable goal for 2017.

Basecamp Basecamp is a project management system that is singlehandedly responsible for keeping my team and ( on top of our priorities and deadlines. Its intuitive interface makes it simple to create projects with specific to-do lists and assign tasks out to other team members with a due date attached. It is also great for communicating with my team members and clients, as it allows for comments that get straight to the receiver?s email inbox. We use it to keep track of where we are in the submission process, upcoming deadlines and reminders to follow up with editors.

Two Bright Light s This is a must-have tool for photographers, planners and any other vendor who plans on submitting real weddings to media outlets. In addition to being a place to store and organize galleries for weddings and inspiration shoots, it also allows you to easily submit a gallery to any of the 400+ magazines and blogs on the Two Bright Lights network. There is also a place for press requests from editors, giving you the inside scoop into what the publishers are really looking for.

Dropbox and Googl e Drive Cloud-based storage has made file management and organization as simple as possible, with programs like Dropbox and Google Drive helping to keep all of your important files in one place. In addition to providing you with access to your files from any connected device, whether you are in the office or on the go, these programs also make sharing large files easier. Many editors will request a Dropbox or Google Drive link for galleries, as it makes it simpler for you to send and for them to review.

Tal kwal ker Al ert s It is always an exciting feeling when you find out you have been picked up, but it can be quite time consuming to constantly refresh a website until your feature is up! Instead of waiting to find it (or worse- missing it altogether!), Talkwalker Alerts will notify you once you have been featured. All you have to do is insert your keywords (like your name or your company?s name) and wait for the email that tells you that your feature has gone live. Then, it?s time to celebrate!

Googl e Anal yt ics The whole purpose of public relations is to increase brand awareness. Online, this generally means website traffic ? the more people looking at your site, the more likely you will book a prospective client. When you are devoting both time and money into your public relations push, you will surely want to be able to track the return on your investment. Google Analytics is a great way to get some basic metrics on how active your website is ? in addition to seeing how many people are visiting your page, you can also see what pages are the most popular and how much time people are spending on each. On top of all of this, Google Analytics also provides graphs that compare your current data with results from the past.

This can give you a lot of valuable information that will help with evaluating the return of your current public relations push, as well as tweaking your efforts to best maximize its effect.

Together, these programs form my PR toolkit that helps me each and every day.

However, keep in mind that everyone has different preferences and business needs, so it is important to take some time and experiment with new tools until you find the one that best suits your needs. As long as you?re making the strides to further streamline your public relations efforts, you?ll be sure to see a return in 2017.

Words by Meghan Ely

TopTips

HowI get my businessready for theNewYear?

We all know that social media is absolutely crucial to businesses today and at the start of the year I like to create a consistent and achievable social media calendar with the Wedaways Marketing Team. Setting up staff meeting schedules and sticking to them: from our formal weekly Team meeting, to daily check-ins, Team dinners and nights out on the town, I make it a priority to check-in and check-in often with the amazing Team at Wedaways. Organizing my travel calendar. I usually travel for 4 months out of the year, visiting amazing destinations, gorgeous wedding venues and honeymoon hotspots to add to our portfolio and offer to Wedaways discerning clientele, so I make sure to keep my schedule organized within the Wedaways online diary tool.

Pamel a St rauss of Wedaways

In order to prepare for the year ahead we look at last year?s targets and see if we met

them, we then set this year?s targets and work out what we need to do to get there.

Inevitably this involves many meetings with brides, venues and suppliers to make sure we are offering the best we can and that we understand the needs of our clients and strategic alliances. So for us the new year is definitely a time of reconnecting and connecting.

El izabet h Marsh of El izabet h Marsh Fl oral Design

Turn Copy intoClicks W ithY our GoogleL isting Your Google, Bing or Yahoo listing is prime real estate. In this post, I'll show you how to get more clicks and visitors from it.

Even if you're not currently ranking organically (naturally, not through an ad) for your most preferred keyword, you're probably ranking for something. If you look at your Google Analytics, you'll probably see at least some traffic coming from Google, Yahoo or Bing.

But every time a searcher sees your listing, it will be surrounded by several others competing for their attention.

Here's an example of what you're dealing with taken from a "kansas city wedding planners" search I ran on Google:

#wedSEo Competition is stiff and you have only a handful of characters to convince them that your website is the one worth visiting.

Luckily, search engines give you control over what they display in this snippet.

(Technically, they can override your directions, but they rarely do.)

The links in blue that you see in the screenshot above is the Title Tag and the description that appears below it is called the Description Tag. These are "meta data" that search engines read in the code of your webpages.

Now you know what the heck "meta data" means so fancy SEO peeps can't trip you up ;) By using an SEO plug-in or asking your developer to quickly change the code, you can modify what shows up in your Title Tag and Description Tag, so you can make your search engine listing more compelling. Be patient, it can take days or weeks for the search engines to update your listing.

Here are 5 quick t ips f or making your l ist ing st and out : 1. Go Mat chy Mat chy If there is a specific keyword you're ranking for that you want to continue showing up for, then add those words to the beginning of your title tag. In addition to strengthening your webpage's association with those key phrases, it will also show searchers that your website is a match to what they are looking for. When they see that your listing matches what they typed into the search engine in the first place, it will give them more confidence that you offer what they want, which may inspire them to click.

2. Use Your Charact ers Wisel y Review the titles in all the other listings. Is there something you could do to stand out and inspire more clicks? You only get about 45-55 characters, so you can't be too frilly with your words. However, you could get creative with capitalization and other characters, such as colons, hyphens and so forth to make your title more readable or noticeable. (Stay away from all caps and exclamation points...we don't want your listing to appear like a dirty sales pitch.)

Hilarious Dallas Wedding DJs - for an event that's never dull ABC Films: Love your film as much as your story

B y K athy D alP ra 3. Is Less More?

While I am a sucker for eye-catching copy, I have to admit that in the screenshot above, my eyes were drawn to the listings with less characters that only mentioned the brand name.

It's a bit risky though, since you're leaving out your target keywords altogether, which is one of many signals that tells Google that you're a great match a certain keyword phrase so they can rank you higher.

If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest some heavy testing.

1. First, using Google Webmaster tools, document your Google ranking, click through rate and total traffic (clicks) for the term you're targeting with your existing listing.

2. Next, modify your Title Tag with the less-is-more approach.

3. Give it a month and return to Google Webmaster Tools to record your position, CTR and clicks. Compare these to your previous stats to see whether the new, shorter listing gets better results.

4. Be t he Horse of a Dif f erent Col or Look at the listings that appear around yours. What could you say to set your listing apart and outshine the others? Can you highlight your strengths, specialty or niche? You have to keep it around 45-55 characters or less, but here are a few examples:

The KC Wedding Planner for Chic, Urban Events - My Company Kansas City Wedding Planners Who Know Design My Biz Kansas City Wedding Planners & Backyard Events - My Biz But don't stop at the title. Google gives you additional real estate with the Description Tag that appears right below it.

Use your description to grab the searchers attention.

Again, look at the other listings. Are their descriptions all pretty much saying the same thing? Such as, "We're a premium event planning firm" or "We offer luxury event planning services" or "We're an award winning wedding planning boutique"? If so, standing out will be easy! Just talk about what you can do for the client, not how great you are as a company, such as: "We plan weddings your guests won't want to leave. Click to visit our website and see how." "Want a wedding so awesome, your guests will chip in for the overtime?

Enter our website to see examples of how we plan weddings that are just that good."

5. Show Your Human Side Yes, having your target keywords in the Title Tag is one critical element to helping you rank your page for that term. But this is also valuable space to show searchers that you're not just a stuffy company behind that website; you're real people with real personalities.

So, if you have the room to add your company name or personal name in the short 45-55 characters Google gives you, I'd insert that into your Title tag too.

Not only will it help you continue to rank well for your brand name, it will also show viewers that you're a human being, which may warm them up to you faster, begin to create trust and move them to click.

Words by Kathy DalPra

Q& A I havetriedl otsof waystoorganisemy busy schedul e, but nothingsticks. How canI dobetter withthis?

There are so many tools out there to keep you organised and the start of the year is a great time to find one that suits you and put it into action before your year gets too busy. I have become a huge fan of, 'The Bullet Journal - an analog system for the digital age'. I also use my Google Calendar on my iPhone, to ensure I never miss meetings, or reminders. But success will come from finding a system that works for you and sticking to it, for at least a month. If it is not working, or you are not using it consistently, review it at the end of the month and don't walk away from it until you have replaced it with an alternative. www.bulletjournal.com

HowdoI preparemy businessfor theyear ahead?

Here are 6 steps I follow when I review my business each year.

1. Revisit your business plan 2. Develop a Sales and Marketing Strategy for the Year and a detailed 3 month plan 3. Update your knowledge about business trends 4. Review your business documents and ensure insurances are up to date and your financial accounts are in order 5. Review your business processes and modify/ streamline as appropriate 6. Block out time for holidays, or special events that will keep you from your usual work routine.

#wedinspire W hat it Takes tobea Social M edia I nfluencer W ithM oniqueL lewellyn As Vamp's Global Talent Director Monique is responsible for recruiting, managing and educating Vamp's Influential Content Creators across APAC. Monique's career has included working in digital marketing for Australian e-retailer The Iconic, British retailer Harrods and Australian fashion label Suboo. Working with Influential Content Creators is the perfect combination of creativity and marketing.

VAMP, "connect s brands wit h inf l uent ial cont ent creat ors t o provide product pl acement in social media". For our readers who are not f amil iar wit h 'Inf l uencer market ing', can you expl ain t o us exact l y what it is and how it works?

Influencer marketing is a form of word-of-mouth marketing in which influential content creators, or influencers, who have a natural affinity for a product work with the brand to produce authentic, lifestyle based content and share that content with their social media followers. Product placement has always been a highly effective way of reaching people, more so than product endorsement, which is one of the reasons why Influencer marketing has become a force to be reckoned with.

How are 'Inf l uencers' chosen by agencies l ike VAMP and how import ant is it f or t hem t o be perceived as credibl e and t rust wort hy by buyers? Are t hey paid, or given f reebies in ret urn f or t heir f avourabl e post s?

At VAMP, our in-house Talent Director, Monique Llewellyn and her team, hand select influential content creators to become part of the VAMP Collective based on a variety of qualifiers in which high quality content and authenticity is most valuable, followed by engagement rate and reach. Whenever a brand approaches us with a brief we encourage our Talent to only apply for campaigns that they truly align with, and our Talent Director works closely with the brand to find the right Talent for their individual needs.

We strongly believe that paying Talent and treating them as professionals in this new industry goes hand in hand with establishing a relationship of credibility and trust between the brand and the Influencer. We always pay our Talent a fee for their work in addition to getting the product for free as we know the amount of time and effort that they put into creating content and want to encourage and sustain their business growth. They are creative digital entrepreneurs!

We also invest a lot of time in helping our Talent to grow their businesses through education on the Vamp Collective blog and with 1-1 feedback sessions so that they can understand how to improve and best represent the brands they work with.

How coul d a brand, l ooking t o work wit h an Inf l uencer, be sure t hat t heir brand was going t o be port rayed in a way t hat t hey are comf ort abl e wit h? Or is it more import ant f or t he Inf l uencer t o have creat ive f reedom?

The real power of Influencer marketing comes in the Talent?s individual creative interpretations of a campaign brief. Social content creators make it their business to know what their followers will and won?t engage with, what will and won?t catch their eye.

With a clear objective and a clear brief outlining what a brand hopes to achieve from a campaign, it all comes down to choosing the right Talent and trusting these creative professionals to do what they do best - create!

Time and time again we find that the briefs with fewer constraints and more creative freedom for the content creators end up with the most rewarding results and we?ve found of recent that clients are beginning to loosen the creative reigns on Talent.

Fewer boundaries and more room for originality results in a wider variety of content for a brand to make use of outside of an Influencer campaign in their own social channels, or even in traditional forms of advertising like eDM, print and out of home.

Can you give us an exampl e of a brand t hat f orged ahead by working wit h an Inf l uencer?

Influencer marketing has evolved a huge amount since it first started and we have seen campaigns succeed in a range of different categories including finance, fashion, e-commerce, food & drink, travel, tech, etc. During campaigns with us brands have seen a huge uplift in sales, a drastic increase in their Instagram account following and traffic to their social channels and even helped to change consumer perceptions of a brand as a whole.

In our recent campaign with MasterCard in Australia, they took their VAMP campaign to the next level, utilising the content outside of their social channels and into a far reaching digital advertising campaign on sites like Pedestrian, Urbanlist, Concrete Playground and news.com.au. The campaign # PricelessGetaways was so successful that it has been expanded and has even won an internal award at MasterCard for best social media campaign globally.

Do you have any t hought s on how t he Wedding indust ry wil l evol ve in Aust ral ia over t he coming 2-3 years?

Social media is key for shaping trends and themes across all industries and for many people, the social feeds they connect with are their first point of call for research.

People who want help with planning their wedding will be looking more and more to influential content creators for brand recommendations. Customers will be using channels like Instagram as a directive for everything from venues, to fashion and caterers.

Accounts that cater to weddings offer so much opportunity for different brands to become more well known to their consumers. Brands can track patterns in wedding themed trends and jump on board to get themselves noticed, for example the most pinned images on Pinterest, common # tags trending, etc.

Are t here brands in our indust ry current l y working wit h Inf l uencers and do you t hink we wil l see more of t his int o t he f ut ure?

Absolutely, brands across all categories are definitely now using the power of Instagram and influential content creators as an important part of their social campaigns. We see this across all categories including fashion, finance, travel, bridal and we work with some influencers who specifically have bridal accounts and are promoting different retailers within the industry, whether it be florists, designers or makeup.

In t his post on t he Vamp bl og t he t opic of 'f reel ancing' f or creat ives is raised.

Typical l y peopl e want ing t o become Wedding or Event Designers/ Pl anners have eit her sought empl oyment wit h an exist ing consul t ancy or venue, or l aunched t heir own business. However I wonder if t he f ut ure f or careers in our indust ry al so incl udes, f reel ancing. Coul d you share wit h our readers what you are observing about f reel ancing in t he creat ive indust ry and any t hought s on how you t hink t his coul d work in t he wedding or event indust ry t oo?

Freelancing in the creative industry is certainly becoming more and more common with a clear market-wide shift from traditional employment models to a rise in task-by-task freelancing. For Wedding or Event Designers/ Planners there is a natural alignment between the way purveyors of wedding services traditionally got business by physical word of mouth, and today?s digital word of mouth channels. This natural alignment lends itself well to entrepreneurial freelance work over that with an existing consultancy/ venue. Having a strong social profile and digital word of mouth strategy will be increasingly important, especially for up and coming vendors. Using influencers with strong creative to build an audience will be essential.

Inf l uencer Market ing wil l be a new concept f or many of our readers, if you had t o sum up in one sent ence why you t hought it was somet hing t hat brands shoul d be considering adding t o t heir market ing mix, what woul d you say?

Effective influencer marketing is not just about the reach anymore, it is a powerful, cost-effective way to produce tried and tested stunning creative that brands can use to reach customers across a multitude of channels.

Are t here any ot her digit al market ing t rends we need t o be on t he wat ch out f or as we move int o 2017?

Digital marketing is already becoming more and more multi-channel, with brands working with companies like VAMP to create amazing content which they can then roll out across EDM, website, display advertising, etc. Whilst these are all traditional marketing avenues we are now seeing brands utilise the content created from our social media content creator campaigns elsewhere.

Why? Brands have very little time to create enough content in a world that is becoming more and more digital with a huge demand to always have new content so they are investing in influencers? creative content. This is tried and tested creative that works, is visually stunning and incredibly cost-effective.

Gone are the days where the website will have an image on a homepage for months on ends, we?re in a world now where everything is instant, constantly changing and brands need to be flexible and adaptable to succeed.

Interview by Christine Ligthart

www.vampcol l ect ive.com

#wedpromo

B y H eidi Thompson It?s a new year and I?m sure you?re feeling excited, energized and ready to take on the world. I want you to be more productive than ever this year so I?ve got 7 simple hacks to be more productive and less stressed this year.

1. Figure out your 80/ 20 t asks There is no shortage of things you can do to promote your business but you don?t have to do everything. Not everything matters. You just need to choose the best ways to reach your ideal client and focus on those. The 80/ 20 rule tells us that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. Focus on that 20% .

I?ve found that the items on an average wedding professional?s to-do list do not line up with the reality of the time available so I want to challenge you to plan out your week and only focus on revenue generating activities. To do this, ask yourself where do your customers come from. If you?re not already asking your clients this question, start now and go back to previous clients and ask them. Look at your Google Analytics and see where you?re getting the most of your traffic from and focus on those sources.

2. St op doing t hings t hat don?t bring you cl oser t o your goal s Not everything you do is actually moving you toward your goals. You?re probably doing things like spending time on certain social media networks that just aren?t moving the needle for you. You have my permission to stop doing things that don?t move you closer to your goals. If you don?t want to full out stop them, cut back the time you spend on them, outsource them or automate them.

3. Decide t he t op 3 t hings you need t o get done t he night bef ore If you don?t have your priorities for the day set you spend time screwing around before you get anything done. The easiest way to eliminate this uncertainty in the morning is to decide on the top 3 things that need to get done the night before. You?ll wake up knowing what needs to be done and can start your day with intention.

4. St reaml ine your syst ems Your systems is what keeps your business running smoothly. If you don?t have streamlined systems set up, it can really slow you down. For example, how do you schedule initial consultations with potential clients? Do you rewrite that email or use a template? Do you send them to a tool like Calendly to choose a date & time or do you go back and forth over and over via email? Do you only do consultations on certain days so you can batch them or is it all over the place? Systems aren?t sexy but they give you your time back and that is sexy.

5. Set short er t erm goal s Remember in school when you were told you had a big paper due at the end of the semester? You put it off until the last day before it was due didn?t you? That?s what we do when the date seems too far away to matter and it?s why setting shorter term goals is so much better.

Setting a year long goal is really hard and things may change along the way. Instead, set shorter term goals that you can measure and know you?ve achieved. I teach my clients to set a 90 day goal and break it down into 90, 60 & 30 day goals.

6. Use t ool s t o aut omat e Technology can make your life SO much easier by allowing you to automate tasks that you would otherwise have to spend time doing manually. Time is like money and you have to budget. This is a great way to save time! I have a lot of tools I love for this, cl ick here t o f ind out more about t hem.

7. Bat ch simil ar t asks Batching is simple and amazing. It?s just grouping similar tasks together so that you can use momentum to get through all of them. I do this with a lot of things including client calls, scheduling social media posts, recording podcasts, and it makes my life a LOT easier. Often times the hardest part of completing any task is just getting started and batching allows you to avoid that hurdle.

If you want to learn even more about how to be more productive and effective this year you'l l l ove t his episode of my podcast about t urning your goal s int o act ion pl ans.

Words by Heidi Thompson

showcase Industrial Styled Shoot. ( ?In Love?s Glow? as featured in Bride & Groom Magazine) Romance meets Industrial chic in this wedding styled by Take a Vow, featuring marble, geometric accents and copper hues. The couple meet under suspended geometric shapes with twinkling copper seed lights and at the end of an aisle lined with rose petals and pillar candles. The colour palette is, 'oh so now', dove grey, cream and blue gum and it works beautifully with natural elements, including the open fireplace, exposed brick and that lush eucalyptus table runner.

The Shoot Team: -

Design concept and styling: Take A Vow Wedding Planning & Events

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Cake: Del Bakes

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Grooms attire: Frank Casey Newmarket

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Brides 'Roxanne' gown by: Glamour Boutique

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Flowers: The Floral Studio.

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Photography: Jeremy Hill Photography

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Hair stylist: Hare & Hunter

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Make up: LeahLovesMakeup

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Personal stylist clothes and accessories: Kellie Walker Personal Stylist

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Wedding stationery: Claire Robertson Design

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Marble balloons: Pop Roc Parties

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3D hearts & geo gems: Luluncat

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Venue: Nectar at The Kingslander

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Models: Sally McLaren & Ethane Ace Roache

#WedGuru

TheP urposeof a W edding VenueM arketingP lan B y SamL loyd

g

The main purpose of a Marketing Plan for a wedding venue should be to outline where you want your business to go and how to best promote your products and services over the next twelve months.

My experience in producing successful Marketing Plans for wedding venue clients and vendors has been to keep the process simple and to give clients tools to help them achieve their key objectives. I accomplish this by initially asking just three questions, What, do you want to achieve in the next twelve months to help you achieve your long-term goals? What do you specifically want to promote now? And who to?

1. What do you want t o achieve in t he next t wel ve mont hs?

I will ask a venue owner to prioritise what they want to achieve over the next year within the context of their longer-term goals. Their answers might include: Attract more couplesConvert more couplesIncrease the price from each bookingTo upsell moreAttract specific couples; for example they might want to target same sex weddingsLaunch a new wedding venueBecome one of the top wedding venues in the areaExtend the wedding season into the winter monthsSell more midweek weddingsPromote a new product or serviceSell more Christmas parties 2. What product s or messages do you want t o promot e or get not iced in t he next t wel ve mont hs?

I then ask the venue owner to consider what products they are offering and what is their priority, for example, their products or services might include: Civil Weddings and receptions Corporate parties Outdoor parties that might include Children?s parties Corporate Annual General Meetings Location shoots 3. Who is your t arget audience?

We then discuss who is the venue?s target audience for each product, as without clearly defining who you?re targeting, you can?t define how to reach

out to them. We also discuss where they might be in the buying cycle, as you also shouldn?t treat each potential customer as if they were in the same state of readiness to hire your venue.

But also we discuss where there might be cross over, for example, someone coming to a wedding coincidentally might also be in the market at some point during the next twelve months, to book a corporate Christmas party.

The Market ing Pl an Any effective Marketing Plan should help build your brand in some way and is all about communicating your messages clearly and to the right target audience.

So, if you wanted to ?attract more couples?in the knowledge that the clear majority of consumers hiring wedding venues now are couples who will search online, often using expressions like ?wedding venue near me?, I believe having a good website, that really ?talks? to your potential clients through good SEO content, is the cornerstone for any successful wedding venue. So, I would expect to work with the client and their web designer to see where we can improve their website to ensure it is delivering against the Marketing Plan.

Also, knowing that social media has now become one of the most important tools wedding venues have to disseminate information about their products, interact with potential

clients and create year-round engagement with their target audience, I like to work with wedding venues to ensure they are getting their Marketing Plan across on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to build followers and connect with potential customers.

I personally believe in content marketing ? sharing interesting information to increase your ranking within search engines - as an effective tactic to further expand a venue?s reach, while increasing the value of their social presence. By consistently publishing relevant blogs, on your own website, you can address common questions, concerns, increase awareness of a product, demonstrate your style and commitment plus increase your reputation as an industry expert ? so become an influencer. The venue owner can then self-promote each piece of content and increase readership by posting each blog to their social media profiles.

Based on the answers to three simple questions, I would typically give my clients a tool; A Blog Marketing Plan; to help them curate their own websites.

Typically, I would give them targeted content topics for every month that connects with the right audience, here are some examples in brief:

When t o promot e?

What t o promot e

What is your bl og cont ent

What is t he l ook, f eel , mood and col our of t he bl og

January

Just engaged

What to do when you have just got engaged?

Fresh, new, snowdrop

February

Valentines

Looking to book the most romantic wedding day of the year?

Pink, love, hearts, arrows

May

Wedding Fair

Why is it important to attend Wedding Fairs?

Something old, something new, something borrowed something baby blue

August

Summer weddings

If there is something that makes you different, share things that other venues are not offering e.g. if you offer afternoon tea: What makes the most perfect afternoon tea wedding party?

Dazzling colours, nostalgic, mismatching crockery

December

New Year?s Eve Weddings

Glittery and glam ideas for your New Year?s Eve Wedding

Black tie, time, gold,

Words by Sam Lloyd

#wedl egal Styled Shoots GoneRight How t o Col l aborat e wit h Friends and Peers (so they stay your friends and peers) As a solo entrepreneur, business is pretty straight forward, especially the money side of it: your offerings (products + services) = your revenue - expenses = your paycheck. If you?ve been in the wedding industry for long enough though, you know the strength of an amazing behind-the-scenes team of friendors, which is why so many wedding pros collaborate with each other on a regular basis.

Friendors are other wedding pros that complement what you do and send you leads (and you do the same!) because you want to work together to create more amazing weddings. For example, if you?re a wedding planner, you consistently refer a certain floral designer, and she does the same for you.

Why make friend...ors? Because collaborations have the power to reach audiences you normally wouldn?t have access to, which widens your referral network, boosts your visibility and increases demand for what you offer. You may even be collaborating with another business without realizing it ? styled shoots, preferred vendor arrangements, appearing at an event, and even sharing affiliate links are all examples of joint ventures.

B y Christina Scalera Most of the time, collaborations are successful... the wedding industry is a small one, after all, and nobody wants a tarnished reputation. Sometimes, though, a styled shoot, one form of a joint venture, can have a few hiccups or, worse yet, go completely wrong. Think: A disappearing act with a suitcase full of camera equipment or a ruined wedding dress.

Unfortunately, there?s not much you can do AFTER it all goes downhill to save your friendships unless you either (1) planned for the worst or (2) are willing to eat the fine/ cost/ money lost.

One of the ways you can alleviate tensions before they arise is by mapping out worst case scenarios ahead of time. The best way to do this is through a contract, sometimes called a joint venture agreement. Think of it as a business prenup. It?s an organized way to be clear, upfront, and honest with each other so you can have a successful marriage? er, joint venture. It?s also super helpful when it comes to the actual business side of the project because it outlines your relationship (will you be conducting a series of events together or just a single styled shoot?) and each of your responsibilities (who?s going to handle the payments and distribute the final images to publications and blogs?). And, of course, the biggie ? how each of you will be paid for your work if things go really well.

Now that you know how to protect yourself, it?s time to implement! If you?re thinking about a joint venture any time soon, download this checklist to make sure you?ve dotted your i?s and crossed your t?s: Downl oad t his FREE Joint Vent ure Checkl ist

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The P ublishers AU

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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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South East Asia - www.aseanweddingacademy.com