by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Ideal Client, Marketing Tools, Reviews & Reputation, Social Media
WeddingWire’s 2019 Newlywed Report – which is the result of surveying over 18,000 couples who were married in 2018 – showed that couple are continuing to get married later in life, and the average from those couples was 33. Meanwhile, the US Census Bureau’s statistics for 2017 show the average in the US as 27.4 for women and 29.5 for men, also increasing every year.
Whether your couples might be the same or different might depend somewhat on where in the country you are, and whether your couples tend to be more or less traditional (and therefore getting married earlier or later in life). However, it still means that the large majority of our couples are now those who are in the middle to younger side of Millennials, and we are starting to see Gen Z couples too (born in 1997 or later). As a result, there are many things that we need to think about differently in our business.
One core characteristic about these couples that needs focusing on is a shorter attention span. Studies show a 12-second attention span from Millennials, and an even shorter 8-second attention span from Gen Z. What do we do with that in our business? I’ll break it down into suggestions for Marketing and for your Customer Journey, as how you communicate with both your booked couples and potential couples is definitely shifting.
Marketing:
- Messaging delivered in smaller pieces, making each one easier to digest.
- Use different media – think about using a combination of text, images, and video.
- Remember that images can “say it” even better than text – they’re processed 60,000x faster than text!
- Text: Think about using bullets or short paragraphs, and then have more details below or link elsewhere to more.
- Be sure that your most important or attractive messaging is shown first.
- Use a mixture of your words and your couples’ words. Using snippets from your reviews not only illustrates your value in their words, but they also help change up the flow from being all in your words.
- On your website, be mobile-focused: 80% of users leave from a bad mobile experience, which includes the function of your site as well as the content. Your site must load quickly – 40% will leave if not within three seconds.
- Have consistent and repetitive messaging (in addition to colors, logo, and imagery) across all marketing channels, so that no matter where they see you, as they move around from site to site while doing their research, it all feels like you.
- Show them only what makes sense for them. Therefore, if you have different offerings with different ideal couples, having multiple brands/businesses with different websites may make more sense than combining it all into one, as then they are more likely to see the information most relevant to their needs and stick around for more.
- Make it easy for them to contact you and to find your social media and reviews.
Customer Journey:
- Break your longer emails into multiple shorter ones and then space them out. This way they hear from you more frequently, and they can absorb your messages better.
- Put the most important info first, so that they are more likely to see it, especially when opening your emails on their phone. Same goes with the most critical question you need answered.
- Text in bullets or short paragraphs then more details below or link elsewhere to more (maybe even a hidden page on your website with just the information for this frequently asked question/issue).
- Questions: If you need to get multiple questions answered, as most of us do, make an online questionnaire (whether in your business management system or a standalone app like Typeform or Google Forms), and then email them the link and instructions (always explain the WHY of something you’re asking your couples to do for you)l.
- Consider filming short videos in place of some longer emails, especially if there are instructions you have to typically give. Or you can use video as a fun addition to your communication plan, including as an in-between communication.
- Meetings: First of all, re-evaluate if they all need to be done in-person, or if you can offer virtual options to save everyone time and effort, plus to make your customer journey consistent for your out-of-town couples too. Communicate before and after your meetings. Before to set expectations and talk about any prep work needed. After to talk about next steps. Both of these communications often result in shorter meetings and being seen as respectful of their time and attention.
I hope that this gives you lots of actionable ideas of changes or improvements that you can make to your marketing and your customer journey! As always, if I can help, please let me know.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Ideal Client, Marketing Tools, Reviews & Reputation, Social Media, Systems & Apps
I talk to my coaching clients and industry colleagues about reviews a great deal. Why? Because the words of those who have used your services or product – talking about the value or the results or what it was like to work with you (or all of the above) – can be so much more powerful than anything you could say about yourself! And, since they are coming from the perspective of someone likely similar to the couples checking you out now, they are usually speaking in a language that fits that potential new couple, too.
So, now what?
First, be sure that you’re getting new reviews from your past clients, and regularly. Recency is just as important as quantity. After all, if you were checking out reviews of a restaurant or hotel, for instance, as you planned a night out or an upcoming trip, and you saw none from the past year, wouldn’t you wonder about that place? Are they still in business? Has their quality fallen dramatically? Plus, if you’ve been in business for a while, you have likely seen your couples change over the years, maybe in what they are looking for, their priorities, or how they express it. So, having recent couples talking about you do matters. And, yes, quantity does sure help too, not only in qualifying you for industry awards like The Knot’s “Best of Weddings” and WeddingWire’s “Couples Choice”, but in building confidence in those reading them that those many reviews they see are real and not just a handful of your friends and family members who did you a favor and wrote some for you.
How do you do this? ASK! I know that that sounds simple, and yet many people I’ve worked with over the years don’t have a process to do just that. I greatly recommend adding an email into your workflow to ask your couples to write you a review, with links directly to the places you want reviews (except for Yelp, who doesn’t like seeing businesses solicit reviews, so include it in your list, but don’t give a direct link). And usually about 2-3 weeks after your work with them is done (I know that some of us deliver our work before the wedding, others of us do so on the wedding day, and others aren’t done until well after the wedding). I used to send it in my “thank you” email the day after the wedding, but I’m finding that I’m getting more now that I wait about 2-3 weeks. Couples for whom you exceeded their expectations, and gave them a great customer experience as well as end-product, likely want to say thanks and help you as well – this gives them the chance to do so! If you haven’t been doing this, you can absolutely do a catch-up now, emailing all of your couples from the past 6-12 months, and I highly recommend it.
Then, what do you do with them? This is where the superpower of reviews comes in. You want to use them everywhere! Wait, what? Especially if coming from a past client that you would consider an ideal couple (as that helps you attract more like them), and if it is expressing something that you want others to hear or know. So, yes, use snippets on every page of your website, in your marketing materials, in your online listings, and in any place that you are communicating with couples, like your email signature and even in your verbal “elevator” pitch at wedding shows. Use full screenshots on your social media (as it gives more legitimacy to see the full and unedited verbiage) – this gives you fresh content for social media, plus allows them to be seen by more people.
Let me add a note on using their words on your website. The days of a single “testimonial” page being of the most value are behind us, and instead you want to weave your couples’ words all throughout your verbiage throughout your website. Use what they say to illustrate or to emphasize things you want to say, as their perspective can often help you to do so.
Also, don’t forget to respond to them! I always email my couples to thank them for writing one, letting them know how much I appreciate that they took the time to do so, and that I absolutely loved hearing what they had to say. And this is important, I think, for continuing the positive feelings in your customer experience with them. But you also need to respond publicly, right on the review website, as those responses are for future couples reading your reviews. Be positive, be thankful, and be you. This is one more place for your personality and your connection with your couples to be seen, so don’t pass up the opportunity to do so. But always remember that the target audience for your response is those reading it as they research you for themselves – whether it was a raving review, good review, or maybe a not-so-great or quite bad review, the response is really meant for future couples (or fellow vendors) who don’t yet know you.
Please be sure to fully read your reviews to be sure that you are making any changes in your business that comes up as an issue. One not-so-great review definitely requires a personal response, but probably doesn’t require a business change. But, multiple of not-so-great (or quite bad) reviews definitely do. So, read them looking for a pattern – whether it was your communication or professionalism or end-product – and improve accordingly.
On the flip side, if there’s something that couples are consistently mentioning as something they loved or particularly appreciate about you or your process or your end-product, can you do even more of that or make it even better, or talk about it more as a selling point? Our businesses should be in a state of constant improvement, as the wedding market and couples are constantly changing. Improving even what you are doing well and what couples love will help keep you ahead of the curve!
Embrace the power of reviews, and the “social proof” that they provide, and see what they bring to your future business!
If I can help you figure out how to best use reviews in your business, or help you narrow down what messaging to use, drop me an email below and let’s chat!
by Bethel Nathan | Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Financial Management, Goal Setting, Marketing Tools, Systems & Apps
Each of our businesses is different – and I think that that is one of the coolest parts of having my own business, as I get to do what fits me and my goals/needs best, while you get to do what fits you and your goals/needs best.
But, my current business is also different from the business it was last year, and different from the business it will be next year, and that is both fun and uncomfortable. And, this time of year – the quieter period toward the end of the year, when looking back is a necessity (taxes and financials), and looking forward is a best practice, plus, catching up on many things needs to happen too – is the time to think about all of this.
So, I thought that I would walk you through what my end-of-year process looks like in my business this year – and I’d love to hear what you’re doing differently or that I didn’t even mention!
Numbers:
Financials: Yes, I look at my financials, since I try to now keep caught up on QuickBooks month-by-month (rather than a big catch-up at tax time), plus, I implemented using a separate cash flow spreadsheet this year too. This all helps me see gross revenue, net profits, and also what my cash flow situation is (and was at various points during the year). Using that cash flow spreadsheet this year gave me a great visual way to see how my expenses fall throughout the year, and how my income come in throughout the year, in a way that the typical QuickBooks report didn’t allow for, and was a great addition to my process.
Analytics of weddings: I also go through my final weddings spreadsheet (yes, I use a spreadsheet in addition to a business management software) and look at some key numbers. I look at total number of weddings and compare it to previous years. Then also break it down to how many per month, how many were weddings vs elopements vs other kinds of ceremonies, how many were for military couples or for colleagues (the only two discounts I offer), how many were for LGBTQ couples (important focus for me), and I look at how many I have booked for next year at this time – and all of those I also compare to previous years. I also look at how far out I was booked this year, as it definitely ranges (my average is about nine months out), doing a stroke count to know how many at each point. Plus, I also look at how many of my couples were from out-of-town, since that has only increased every year for me – San Diego is a destination wedding location, and lots more of my clients come from elsewhere. Once I know these numbers, I can start to make some decisions about any changes I want to make next year, including in my systems and processes, and also about wanting to take on more or less weddings, based on my own financial or life goals for the next year. I also check in with my gut to see how the entire year felt, how certain months felt, etc. – I started doing this after the wonderful 2013 when marriage equality came back to California, as I found myself doing way more weddings per week/month in the second half of the year than I had planned, and that taught me to sometimes think before saying yes to another midweek wedding when the weekend is already full. It felt fine when I said yes, as the day was technically open, and then was exhausted when the wedding-filled Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday weekend happened!
Referral Sources: I also take some time to go through that final spreadsheet to analyze where my weddings came from. It’s important to track not only your leads (my business management software does this really well for me), but also your bookings. Since, let’s be real, loads of leads that don’t convert are usually useless to you and your business (unless you struggle to convert no matter where they come from, in which case, we have a different issue to discuss!). Since my database can only handle one referral source in that field, I also have this on my weddings spreadsheet in order to handle more than one answer. And, therefore, I am also sure to ask this question of my couples more than once, as they may give me different answers! I ask in the inquiry, of course. Then I also ask them in my “Vendors & Details Questionnaire” (part of my process). And sometimes it even comes up in the meeting too. Therefore, at the end of the year, I go through and do a final tally of where all of my weddings came from this year. I do this year by year as it does change each year – some sources that weren’t great are now fantastic, while others that used to send me lots of ideal couples no longer do. Once, I know this, I can make some decisions about marketing and advertising, to capitalize on what is working, and eliminating or lessening what isn’t.
Changes in the market or technology:
This is something that is less tangible, but just as important. Annually, you have to sit and think about what has changed and if there is anything you need to do in response. For instance, I am changing how I follow up with photographers for pictures and what I am asking for (and what I am planning to do with them). With websites being “mobile first” now – and knowing that couples really are using their mobile devices to research wedding pros more than ever – I am focusing less on adding more full galleries to my website (and am going to pull some down, actually, as I have A LOT on there), and am instead focusing more on sharing images on social media. This means that I will ask only a handful of photographers for a full gallery worth of pictures from weddings this year, and will ask all of the rest for the handful of images that I want to share on social media, especially on Instagram. Plus, I’m changing my process around all of that (not shocking for those who know what a system and process geek I am) – changing email templates, tracking spreadsheets, and what information I prep (like lists of vendors and IG handles for every wedding). Another example in my business is that I’m making a switch in what business management system I use – which is HUGE after being on the previous system for seven years (and 700 weddings!). So, I’m taking this opportunity to edit and update all of my email templates, my workflows, my questionnaires, etc. And, like I mentioned above, with more of my couples coming in from elsewhere rather than being local, I’m making these systems and processes changes with that in mind.
Planning for the New Year: After all of this is done, I feel comfortable actually starting to set goals, make plans, and start to implement changes.
I hope that this helped you to think about what you need and want to do! If I can help, and one-on-one coaching time with me would be useful, let me know. Here’s to an even better 2019 for us all!
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Financial Management, Goal Setting, Marketing Tools, Systems & Apps
In San Diego, weddings happen year-round, yet we do have a slower season and, just like the rest of the country, that slower time is now. As wedding professionals, November through March is our time to have fewer weddings and less cash, while having more inquiries, more meetings, and, hopefully, more bookings. Which can make our slower season stressful, but stressful in different ways vs. our busy season. And yes, there are those outside the wedding industry who figure this must be our time to sit back, relax, and “eat Bon Bons,” but, unfortunately, they are wrong. The slower season is such a crucial time for us and it flies by, so here are the 3 things that I try to make sure and do in my business during the slower season.
1) Take some breather and relaxation time. Yes, I know I just was talking about how important this time is to our business, and I will be the first to admit that I am not good at taking relaxation time. Yet, it is very important to do, especially at the end of a busy season. We work hard and give up a lot to make sure our couples are taken care of, and thus, now is the perfect time to take care of ourselves in some sort of way before beginning our important slower season tasks. Put an out-of-office reply onto your e-mail and voicemail, take a few days off with no wedding business interruptions allowed, and recharge your batteries. In our passion-based businesses, the worst thing that can happen is that we lose our passion.
2) Work on your business. During the busy part of our season, we often go from client to client and wedding to wedding and priority to priority without much time to get some of the daily or monthly business tasks done. Which makes this the best time to catch up on some of those tasks we put off, like accounting, getting pictures from those wonderful photographers your couples hired, and post-wedding clean-up, plus following up on requesting reviews. And, since there is little to no time during the busy wedding season to focus on business improvement, this is also the best time to switch business systems, build templated e-mails, and work on other aspects of your business processes and systems. The goals are to improve the customer journey for you upcoming couples, figure out new ways to market and bring in more business (since we have to constantly be in search of new couples, right?), as well as to find time and cost savings, as all of these will help elevate your business.
3) Revise goals and plans based on the current state of your business. Now is the perfect time to evaluate how your business is looking for this new year vs. previous years (I like to look at the past two years, as trends are easier to spot when looking at multiple years). And, based on what is learned from that evaluation, adjust what you are doing. Are your bookings at the number you expected? Are your marketing tools each performing as you expected? Is it time to raise your prices? Do you need to increase relationship building efforts? By evaluating early, it can allow you to better focus/re-focus your marketing dollars and be proactive vs. reactive.
Of course, if you need any help, now is also the perfect time to work with a coach – hint hint – since this part of the wedding season/year allows the time necessary to work on improving your business, and it’s easier to take both the needed look back – and the needed look ahead – to figure out what changes can make an impact on your business. If you need help elevating your business to the next level, please don’t hesitate to contact me, and we can discuss coaching options (all via Zoom, so super easy no matter where you are) – either one-off or a series – for you and your business.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Marketing Tools, Reviews & Reputation
Although not a necessity, most wedding industry businesses can benefit hugely from a good relationship building plan. One of the first steps in any relationship building plan is meeting people, and one of the best ways to do that is through networking. Having said that, I, like many of you, don’t always love networking, and often hate the stereotypical networking! Yet, when done right, networking can increase awareness of you and your business, establish and/or improve relationships with other wedding pros, and reaffirm your legitimacy in the industry.
Although I really don’t always love doing it, and sometimes dread it, to be honest, from the very beginning of my officiant business, networking helped, and it still continues to help, my business immensely. And, therefore, I keep doing it and encourage others to do the same. So, here are 6 quick tips that can help.
Yes-Yes’s when it comes to networking –
1) Go to multiple styles of networking events offered by multiple different groups. Over time, you will likely reduce down how many and which ones you go to, but by initially checking out many different events put on by many different groups can not only legitimize you and your business, but also help you to figure out which ones are your best fit.
2) Be prepared. Are there specific people you want to meet? Do you have business cards on you? Do you have an elevator pitch for your business? While you don’t need a specific memorized pitch (and I really recommend that you don’t, as it can feel fake), be sure that you are prepared to answer questions about what you do or what your business is, as that first impression of how you answer that question can be powerful.
3) Sponsor the event, or something at the event. This builds credibility and gets people coming to talk to you vs. you having to go talk to them.
Oh-No’s when it comes to networking –
1) Don’t just hand out business cards. I wouldn’t think I would have to continuously repeat this one, but at every event I go to, there are at least one or two people just walking around handing out their cards to everyone. A few short conversations are going to be much more beneficial than handing out 50 cards to random people with no connection to that card and who you were.
2) Don’t get drunk. Yes, the alcohol might be free and, yes, you might be the life of the party that everyone is talking about. But they are not talking about your business in a positive way if that is what comes up when someone mentions you.
3) Don’t think that once is enough. If you go to an event and it wasn’t great (or even painful), try another one, but maybe bring a “wingman” with you next time, if you really think that that group or event is likely to still be worth your effort. If you go to an event and it is successful and you see possibility there, go to more. Building relationships through networking is a continuous process that usually requires multiple contacts.
I hope that these tips help! If you would like more in-depth assistance in regards to networking and creating a great relationship plan specific to you and your business, I’m happy to help with that! Just drop me an email at bethel@elevatebybethel.com.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Goal Setting, Ideal Client, Marketing Tools, Speaking
Over the past couple of years, I have presented multiple times on the 6 key areas to focus on when creating a successful wedding business – and very shortly I will be presenting a 2.0 version of this presentation at WeddingWire World DC. In this upcoming session, I will be discussing not only the importance of focusing on the 6 keys, but focusing on them in a specific order.
These 6 keys, in the order they should be worked on, with a little bit of the why, are listed below.
1) Ideal Couple – In an industry in which business is so personal, understanding which couples you want to work with, and which couples you will be most successful working with, should be your first step. Who your ideal couples are, where they are, and what they want from someone doing what you do, will drive much of how you do business.
2) SMART Goals – Knowing your ideal couple helps you to understand things like: how much you can charge for your service, what type of customer experience they are expecting, will you need all 5-star reviews or will a 4-star average be ok, etc. And by understanding these things, it is much easier to write goals that are not only SMART, but smart for your business.
3) Marketing – Since the marketing vehicles you will use, and messaging within those vehicles, need to attract your ideal couples, and will help you meet at least some of your SMART goals, it follows that you need to have worked on the other two first, if you want to market in the most efficient and effective way.
4) Selling Your Value – Similar to your marketing messaging, your value messaging needs to attract your ideal couples, thus creating effective messaging means understanding your ideal couples and their values and priorities, and your goals.
5) Relationships – When developing relationships with colleagues and competitors, it is important to know who your ideal couples are, since you want to establish a different type of relationship with those that work with the same ideal couples as you vs. with those that work with different ideal couples. And, since we want to be as efficient in our businesses as possible, knowing our goals helps us to focus our effort on the relationships that will be the most beneficial.
6) Processes and Systems – Each process, and the corresponding systems that support it, should be developed to at the least meet, but if possible, exceed, your ideal couple’s expectations. By doing this, instead of creating processes and systems that are the norm for all couples, or are built just to save your business time or money, you will have a much better chance of meeting your goals and making your ideal clients happy.
This is just a little taste of what I’ll talk about, and talk about with my coaching clients when we work through this together. If you want to learn more about each of the 6 Keys to a Successful Business listed above, check out my other blog posts and feel free to e-mail me at bethel@elevatebybethel.com to get the complimentary series of worksheets that explain each of the 6 keys in more detail and even give you guidance on how to evaluate and improve them in your business.
