Categories
Getting Down to Business

Bring Your Clients Sunshine…

The Arctic Circle in the middle of winter gets no sun. So on Day 31 of no sun, Tropicana (the orange juice people) brought them the sun. Check it out. You can’t help but smile when you watch this video because of people’s reactions.

The video made me stop and think about what I can do as a wedding vendor. Tropicana took the time to think about their client’s needs. 31 Days, no sunlight. They need some sun to brighten their lives – even if it is an artificial sun. So they took the needs and addressed them. It made them heros. Do you think that if you lived there and you were walking through the grocery store and saw Tropicana orange juice, you would probably pick it up over another brand? (I’m assuming it would cost a lot – I’m sure it isn’t cheap to buy orange juice in the Arctic Circle.) How about those of us that don’t live somewhere so remote? Will hearing this story make you give Tropicana a try the next time you’re at the grocery store? Simply because they did something cool?

The other interesting thing to notice in this ad is that you don’t see the product at all until the very end, and you see them passing orange juice out to happy people – you assume for free – as they enjoy their sun for a moment. The visual lasts for a second or two, and you’re feeling really great when you see it. Then you see the Tropicana logo, which has thankfully returned to their original logo after last year’s controversy. The whole thing is barely about the product itself. They aren’t selling you on it being yummy orange juice, how delicious it is, the nutrition value. They are just showing you that they went out and did something cool for this small town without sunlight for 31 days.

It is a soft sale. It is warm and fuzzy. It quiets the lizard brain.

Now think about your clients — what are their needs? What is that one problem they might have right now that you can address, even if it isn’t in the realm of what you normally do? How can you, as a wedding vendor, bring your clients sunshine and those pure joyous smiles to their faces? How can you reach out and make the experience of working with you full of joy? What can you do that isn’t selling them on the product, but rather on the experience of working with YOU. Something that makes YOU unique?

Standing out in the crowd is key. There is only one YOU and no one else can duplicate that. Give a unique experience, and you’ll be the buzz for a long time.

Categories
Getting Down to Business

{Get Real} Sales Workshop – Coming to Houston!

I’m so excited to share this with you!

You’ve read the funny tweets and wedding wisdom of @planningforever; we’ve looked forward to the {Sales 411} of @saundrahadley – now get both personas together and improve your sales practices for your small business. A Regal Affair presents:

Saundra Hadley’s {GET REAL} Sales Workshop – Tuesday, March 16, 2010 in Houston, Texas!

Get Real Sales Workshop - Saundra Hadley

What’s in it for You:
This one-day workshop will be chock full of applicable sales techniques that will let you leave the door and immediately implement positive changes. It is comprehensive, fast-paced, blunt, collaborative, profound, humorous and will take you to the next level of Closing the Sale with your prospective clients.

You ALREADY know that selling your services to clients is getting more challenging than ever before. An increase of competition compelled with a decrease of consumer spending and a difficult economy has left all of our small businesses in an unsettled state of mind. It’s time to analyze what we can do to be more effective and closing more sales is a definite step in the right direction.

Who should attend?
Photographers, wedding planners, stationers, bakers, hotel coordinators, videographers, newbie’s to the industry, and more. Check out https://www.dreamengine.com.au/news/tips-writing-effective-video-script/ for more details. If you are in the wedding industry and a professional who is selling to the consumer; this workshop will help you.

What’s so different about this workshop?
To be sure that the topics covered are geared towards “you” and “your needs”, a questionnaire will be sent out prior to the workshop date for you to fill out. From the feedback, your concerns and challenges will be incorporated and addressed in the workshop curriculum.

CAUTION: Only concrete principles and specific examples of sales tactics will be taught to increase your sales closure rate. Fluffy talk, abstract theories that only nuclear engineers can apply or empty promises of you increasing your revenue by hundreds of thousands of dollars will NOT happen. But what will happen is for you to hit the ground running and make some serious changes that will affect your bottom line.

Another workshop for our industry? Really?
There are only about a hundred new workshops for our industry, right? At first glance it appears to be a little saturated. But take a closer look. Years ago you would have to wait for a monthly professional meeting or worse, a once a year, large event conference that would cover every topic from A to Z. Small workshops that focus specifically on an area of business that you need assistance with is a much better use of your time and investment dollars.

Schedule
9 – 10am Networking (continental breakfast)
10 – 12pm Workshop with Breakout Sessions
12 – 1pm Lunch (provided)
1 – 3pm Workshop with Breakout Sessions

Curriculum
Face the Fear
The Process of the Sale
Getting the Inquiry to Consult
Pre-qualifying
Marketing “Sales Words”
Top Sales Mistakes
Overcoming Objections
Never, Ever ….
The Consult Magic
Winning Proposals
Closing the Sale
Tracking your Sales Cycle
Selling in a Recession (Sucks)

Limited seating available. Hosted at the Christine Tremoulet studio, the future home of the Delight Wedding Collective.

AND!!! Join us Monday evening, March 15th, for networking fun at the Get Real Sales Tweetup!

So? Who is in???

Categories
Getting Down to Business

Don’t be the Uncle Bob of Your Own Business…

So you’re a professional photographer, right? And if someone shows up to your wedding, portrait session, whatever and whips out the fancy camera they just bought at Best Buy or Amazon and starts firing away, you’re probably going to be thinking to your self something along the lines of, “Awww… how cute. But my photos will be much better because I’ve got mad skillz at photography, YO!”

(What? You don’t talk to yourself like some bad-ass photo rapper? Well, whatever. I do. Run with it.)

The point is, you know what you’re doing. You know your skill set, and the long hard hours that it took of practice to get to where you are at. And 99% of the time, your photos will be better because of it. Sure, there is always the one person that is just kind of a natural that will show you up, but they won’t know how to deal with a tricky lighting situation or how to balance flash with ambient light, so whatever. YOU are the SUPERSTAR!!!

So why the heck are you designing your own logo? Your own business material? Trying to create your own website or blog from the ground up from scratch?

How is that any different then the person that dropped $1500-3000 to have a camera as fancy as yours? They are not an expert.

Yes, you’re artistic and creative. But that doesn’t mean you know all the ins and outs of what makes a graphic design truly sing, or that you should spend hours and hours learning CSS and how to code HTML, PHP and smoosh it all into a awesome blog.

You’re a photographer (or a wedding planner, a cake artist, a caterer – whatever you are) — not a graphic designer or a website developer. Know what you’re good at. Hire someone else to do the rest. Leave it to the experts.

It is the same thing you expect of your clients every single day.

Oh, In case you were wondering – Uncle Bob: Definition, and what you usually get. Don’t do that to your business.

Categories
Creative Geek

It Starts at the Top…

I can’t tell you how often I’m reading a blog or a website, and I glance up at the title bar on my web browser only to see a completely pointless title like “Home” or “Blog” even worse, the name of the company that mad the template you’re using for your portfolio.

Stop what you’re doing right now and go look at your sites. What is your title? What is it saying to people?

Titles are used in countless ways — first and foremost, it is the information that Google pulls when it is displaying your site among their lists. It is also what the people that read your site, your potential clients, see if they are using tabs in their browsers, when they bookmark your page, and so much more!

If your title isn’t clear, how will they ever find you again? If your title says something like Bl*d*main or Templates for Photographers, does that help you? Or the company that made your template?

To change your blog’s title in WordPress, log in and go to Settings (it is the last item on the column on the left). Under General Settings, right there, you will see “Blog Title” as an option – make it something that helps people and computers! Start with your business name, and then maybe include where you are located at. People always want to know that!

Be sure to change the Tagline as well while you’re there. I noticed yesterday that even if you don’t have that showing up on your blog’s template, it does get pulled by Facebook. Looks a little silly if it still says something about you being just another WordPress blog, because we know you’re not just another anything. You’re FABULOUS! Now help the world see that!

Categories
SEO for Wedding Vendors

Making Your Blog Savory for Clients and Delicious for Google with SEO!

You want Seo Consultant to just give your site all the love and attention that you think it deserves. You want to be at the top of all the search results. You want your site to be usable, something that has everything that your clients need so that when they find you through Google or any of the other search engines they can figure out how to book you. But you’re lost. You have no idea where to start. You’re a photographer, wedding planner, florist, cake artist, caterer or (fill in the blank) — not a website designer or Search Engine Optimization specialist. How on earth are you supposed to do it all?

That is ok! The time has come – I’m here to help! (I feel like I should have a superhero cape on as I type that.)

For over 10 years, I’ve helped people build better websites. (Garden Ridge, Canyon Ranch and even Jewel (the singer) are on my list of companies I’ve worked with.) I’ve studied, researched, attended conferences, and learned so much over the years. Now it is your turn. I want to share my knowledge with you. This is your chance for your very own SEO, Better Blogging & Site Review! YAY!!!

SEO, Blog & Site Reviews will consist of an initial conversation to discuss what your target market is and who your primary competition is, and any goals you might have for your website. I will then review your site from top to bottom and behind the scenes for SEO, usability, and overall things that can be improved.

With Amazowl’s Amazon Marketing Training, you need to have a process for handling shipping, providing tracking, responding to emails, and every other aspect of the interaction between yourself and Amazon, and yourself and Amazon’s customers (most important of all).

When all that is done, I’ll prepare a CUSTOM report of my findings, going over different specific things that you can do to improve your site immediately, and boost your Search Rankings for the long haul. Full of tips to make your blog and your website better, from best practices to things that will make your business rock. We will then set up a 1 hour call (or meeting if you’re local) to discuss the report and any questions that they might have. It is all about you and what you need!

SEO Site Reviews will be $500 through the end of 2009. Want to sign up right now? Just can’t wait? Want a special deal? The first 10 clients to sign up and pay for their review will get a special rate of $250!

If you set up a One-on-One Workshop with me, even after those first 10 spots are gone, you’ll be able to add on the SEO Site Review for $250 through the end of 2009. All sorts of business goodness in one package!

Ready to have your site reviewed? Don’t want to sit in a workshop or read books and learn about things that have nothing to do with what you specifically need? Feel like you need more support along the way? I can’t wait to work with you! You can use this form to contact me. You can click here to learn more about me and click here to read about other things I can do for you. Want one of those 10 half-price spots? Hurry up before they are GONE!

Update: THREE of the first ten spots remain! (as of 10/9/09 at 3pm)