Monday, February 25, 2013

Are You Ready To Make Changes To Get Sales In 2013?

direct_selling_solutions"I want to make more sales, what more can I do?”
We hear over and over again how wedding business organizations need to make more sales and are struggling to keep up as the technology and marketing techniques are changing.  How do you stay on top of your marketing outreach?
Many ask ‘what’s the best way to close a sale,’ before they even know what the ‘game plan’ is.  In the wedding business many ‘voice’ how they get overwhelmed with all the changes and feel that the ‘sales industry’ has changed.  They want to confirm that they are on the edge of the changes.’
Comments & Questions we hear at Evans Sales Solutions:
  • “Am I doing the right thing in my marketing to the bride?
  • “The new technology comes faster than I can keep up.”
  • “The amount of change taking place, especially on Facebook. You think you have a system down and then they update the pages and we have to teach everyone all over again.”
  • “How do I close the sale when talking to a bride?”
competition3You get the picture, it’s a 'tug 'o war,' all different, but then...all the same thing!
Even if a wedding business dedicates itself to understanding something in the ‘Social Media Marketing’ area, (say the new Google+ platform,) before they know it, it does a major upgrade and much of their hard won knowledge becomes obsolete!  So, do you think that when it changes all the time…does the end result (A SALE) change too?
As wedding business and sales experts, we feel that the consumer is just increasingly savvy, in the technology area—so that you have to stay in the game in multiple ways.  Consumers (brides to be) are not just more tech smart, but they also expect more and they want it quickly.  We also feel that another thing the internet has done-is broken down the pricing barriers and everyone has your (and your competitors) pricing in the palm of their hands.
What can you do about it?
First, we will have to get over it. Constant, relentless change is now a fact of life. We are going to have to adapt to it because the world won’t adapt to us and our needs. We will need to embrace this constant change and turn it to our advantage.
What do I mean? How do we do this?
I mean embrace continual learning and do it at a higher level than you may have planned. This means listening to CD’s or podcasts (audio recordings) as you drive or work out. It means watching less TV in favor of reading a book each week on marketing, sales or another type of business help.  It means watching webinars and going to seminars on a more regular basis.  It means following your favorite wedding business blogs each and every day so that you can keep up with, or even get ahead, of your competition. It means watching YouTube videos about things you don’t understand, but know you need to.
We believe that you can actually turn this whole thing to your advantage! The vast majority of people are not self-starters. By taking the bull by the horns here, and determining that you aren’t going to sit by idly as the wedding industry changes, you actually become much more valuable to your client, as you become the expert!  Many will fail to adapt and become less relevant, are you going to be one that suceeds ?
There are multiple things you can do today…… (and some are COMPLIMENTARY!!) click for more information!
Evans Sales Solutions is a team of wedding & sales experts that work to support those in the wedding industry grow their business!  As a solutions-based and results-driven 'Bridal Marketing Concierge,' we look forward to working together when you call: 805-222-5946 or email to: WeddingBiz@EvansSalesSolutions.com Chris Evans is a Public Speaker, Sales & Business Trainer, Author,  and trusted advisor to many organizations around the world. He has over thirty years of experience in creating, expanding, and running organizations with an unsurpassed success record. www.EvansSalesSolutions.com

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

How Pinterest powers Charlotte's wedding industry - Business Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

How Pinterest powers Charlotte's wedding industry - Business Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

How Pinterest powers Charlotte's wedding industry

 

Charlotte Observer

Gone are the days when a bride-to-be strolled into Amy Craparo’s The Wow Factor Cakes with a blank slate and a couple of magazine clippings.
Now, brides in the throes of wedding planning come to her Park Road bakery armed with their smartphones and tablets open to their new primary source of inspiration: Pinterest, a social media site that allows users to maintain virtual pinboards with images from the web.
“Almost every bride I sit with for a consultation brings in a picture from Pinterest – almost every single one of them,” says Craparo.
It’s a virtual networking tool that’s changing the way wedding retailers do business. Many Charlotte-area wedding vendors – from dress shops to florists, cake designers to stationery experts – now use the site as a cost-free way of interpreting trends, connecting with clients and garnering more exposure. It all helps these businesses capture a bigger piece of the $40 billion wedding-industry pie.
Since it launched in 2009, Pinterest has cracked Comscore’s list of top-50 U.S. Web sites, drawn nearly 26 million unique visitors and been valued at more than $1.5 billion. The site, which allows users to browse other people’s pinboards for inspiration and “repin” images to their own boards, offers a nearly infinite stream of idea for home decorating, recipes, fashion and weddings.
Approximately 68 percent of Pinterest’s users are female, and nearly one-third of those women are ages 25 to 34, according to digital ad agency Modea.
Given those demographics, it’s no wonder Pinterest seems tailor-made for the wedding industry, which revolves around evocative visuals.
“That’s the beauty of Pinterest,” says Kristin Vining of Kristin Vining Photography, who started using Pinterest in 2010, soon after the site launched. “It’s a domino effect. One person tags it, then BAM, pinning and pinning and pinning ... (People are) seeing your name over and over again.”
Vining now has nearly 1,300 followers on Pinterest, and she regularly updates her page to include photos from recent shoots and events. She has separate boards for engagement sessions, bridal portraits and wedding pictures, and strongly encourages her clients to maintain their own pages.
But for Vining, Pinterest is just one of many social media outlets to attract clientele. She also blogs and maintains a presence on Twitter and Facebook – all of which help her Search Engine Optimization ranking with Google, she says.
“(They say) it takes someone seeing your name three times to notice you and seven times to remember you,” says Vining. “Pinterest is just another one of those tools for us to reach our audience.”
Wedding planner Katrina Hutchins of Come+Together Events, often uses Pinterest to connect her clients with local vendors for rental chairs, linens, cakes and photography.
Party Reflections, a special event rental company located on Monroe Road that Hutchins works with regularly, has nearly 900 pins.
“I follow them on Pinterest, and sometimes they’ll be pinning ideas from their own inventory, and I’ll call my girl and say, ‘I want to use this in a wedding,’ ” Hutchins said.
Hutchins said she also spots photos of events she planned floating around on Pinterest – even if she didn’t pin it herself first.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/12/3230234/how-pinterest-powers-charlottes.html#storylink=cpy