Are you starting a wedding planning business, but feeling stuck on how or where to market your services? You have a good amount of experience with family and friends, but no real experience outside of that? Perhaps you keep running into dead ends competing with more established wedding vendors who have already taken up the sacred "preferred vendor lists". Don't quit yet, this is how we all feel when we first start our wedding businesses, and this is the exact topic we'll be covering today.
The building phase of entrepreneurship is the phase that breaks most businesses before they really even get started and I don't want this for you! Having been through this phase several times with multiple businesses, I've got lots of advice on this one. Today we'll discuss the top free ways to market, the top paid ways and some solid longer term solutions too.
Notable Quotes:
"Reach out to people who are on the same level as you, so that you can work through building and growing your businesses together. “
“You want to get in front of a ton of couples who are looking to get married, looking for the exact thing that you offer and get hands-on experience by offering free or highly discounted rates just for the exposure, the reviews, the experience.”
“Building a new business is so freaking hard, it’s gonna feel like you’re hitting a thousand dead ends, and you’ll just need to try all the things and be a gazillion percent committed any way. You need have an attitude of ‘theres no chance I’m quitting, I’m all in, I’m making this happen, I’m fully committed’ and just try all the things. I can guarantee you, one of those things is gonna work”
.
Connect with Nicole: nicole@weddingproacademy.com
Learn more about The Wedding Business Masterclass: https://weddingproacademy.com/
Follow Nicole on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedding.pro.academy/
Chapters
Are you starting a wedding planning business, but feeling stuck on how or where to market your services? You have a good amount of experience with family and friends, but no real experience outside of that? Perhaps you keep running into dead ends competing with more established wedding vendors who have already taken up the sacred "preferred vendor lists". Don't quit yet, this is how we all feel when we first start our wedding businesses, and this is the exact topic we'll be covering today.
The building phase of entrepreneurship is the phase that breaks most businesses before they really even get started and I don't want this for you! Having been through this phase several times with multiple businesses, I've got lots of advice on this one. Today we'll discuss the top free ways to market, the top paid ways and some solid longer term solutions too.
Notable Quotes:
"Reach out to people who are on the same level as you, so that you can work through building and growing your businesses together. “
“You want to get in front of a ton of couples who are looking to get married, looking for the exact thing that you offer and get hands-on experience by offering free or highly discounted rates just for the exposure, the reviews, the experience.”
“Building a new business is so freaking hard, it’s gonna feel like you’re hitting a thousand dead ends, and you’ll just need to try all the things and be a gazillion percent committed any way. You need have an attitude of ‘theres no chance I’m quitting, I’m all in, I’m making this happen, I’m fully committed’ and just try all the things. I can guarantee you, one of those things is gonna work”
.
Connect with Nicole: nicole@weddingproacademy.com
Learn more about The Wedding Business Masterclass: https://weddingproacademy.com/
Follow Nicole on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedding.pro.academy/
What is Wedding Pro Academy?
A Wedding Business Podcast - Tips and tricks to, grow and sustain a amazingly successful wedding business in a way that's is fun and gives you tons of freedom.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Welcome everyone to The Wedding Pro Academy Podcast. I'm Nicole, your host. I'm an expert in the wedding industry and I've personally built 2 6 figure businesses from the ground up. I am obsessed with building businesses that make lots of money but do so in a way that also create luxurious amounts of freedom. So if you're looking to build, grow or scale a wedding business in a way that doesn't burn you out and you'd love some guidance from someone who has done just that, this podcast is for you.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Each week I'll cover strategies, ideas, tips and tricks that will give you your dream wedding business too. Thanks so much for tuning in today. Let's dive in. Hi everyone, it's episode 4 how to market a brand new wedding business, but before I jump into that, I just wanted to tell you guys a little bit about what's been going on with me. It is almost Christmas.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Very exciting if you have kids and probably also very crazy, which is how I usually feel, but this year I feel pretty composed, which is awesome. And what I've been actually consumed with this last, I'd say, 2 weeks is hiring a new planner for my team. 1 of my planners who had been with me for, jeez, like, at least 2 or more years quit in beginning of December, and so I had to quickly put together an ad and hire somebody new, which always freaks me out at first in the beginning, but then I remember I've done this process now so many times that I am good at it. I know what I'm doing. I know I'll find someone good, and I always do, and it always works out for me.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And I just wanted to tell you about this because even if you're in a newer brand new phase of building a business, you do eventually get to this point of being, you know, a badass business owner and a boss who can handle a team and who runs a business that flows effortlessly, and that's kinda where I'm at. So I was just struggling with deciding who to pick because when I put my ad up on Indeed, I had, like, literally 80 people that applied in the 1st 4 days. And many of them were excellent candidates, so it kinda just blew me away with how many people wanted to get into this industry and how many people how many options I had to choose from. So I basically did interviews. I read through resumes.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I had meetings, and I ended up narrowing it down to, I think, a top 4 people that I thought would be excellent. I've been stuck, just completely stuck trying to decide, which is weird for me because I'm usually really, really good at picking somebody. But this time, there are just too many good people, and I've just spent, like, the last 2 days kind of soaking in, you know, what the possibilities could be meditating on it and talking to my own business coach about this, and I am pretty clear now on what I need to do, and I'm gonna hire 2 people instead of just 1, and I'm super excited about how that's gonna work out. Yeah. So that's just what's been going on with me, and I know what we're talking about today is almost on the complete opposite end of the spectrum for brand new wedding businesses who really just are getting their foot in the door.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
They've just decided that they're ready to go all in on their business. You might have some experience or a lot of experience planning events or shooting photos for family and friends, but not really any with real life paying customers. And how do you market yourself when you're just getting started in a business like that? So that's what I'm gonna cover and talk about today, and the reason that this even, you know, came into my attention is because I was looking on Reddit on, like, wedding questions for some random reason, and I saw this post, and it felt so near and dear to my heart because I can remember feeling like this way exactly. So I'm gonna read you the post that I saw on Reddit.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
It says, hi. I'm starting a wedding planning business, and I'm not sure how or where to market my services. I have a lot of experience planning events for friends, family, and work, but no formal experience to include in a portfolio. What I would like to do is offer my services to my first few clients at a discounted rate in exchange for constructive feedback, future references, and including their wedding in my portfolio, but I'm not sure where or how to market this. None of the wedding sites allow for advertisements on their community boards, and it seems like you have to be an established vendor in order to be included on the preferred vendor lists.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And I don't know if Craigslist is the right forum. Would Instagram or Twitter be more appropriate? Should I post on the bulletin board at Starbucks? Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Okay, you guys. This is exactly how I felt when I was starting my wedding business, and so I can relate completely, totally sympathize with this person. If this is you, this this whole episode is for you, but I bet you there's a bunch of you guys out there who are feeling the exact same way. No idea where to start. You feel like you're totally capable of doing this.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Maybe it's in photography, hair and makeup, wedding planning, videography, but people don't trust you yet because you aren't established. And so how do you get established when you have no real experience? So there are lots of ways, and I'm gonna start with some of the free ways, the free things you can do to actually get some business and get your first clients, your first customers. So in that initial Reddit post, she did say, well, should I post on Craigslist? Well, that's one place you could go, and it is something that I did when I first got started with my wedding planning businesses.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I just put a literal post on Craigslist. I linked it up to my website. You should always begin with having a website even if it's the most basic one. And I just was very honest, like, we're a honest. Like, we're a newer wedding planning business.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Here's what we offer. Here's what's included. Here's what the price is, and it was very, very cheap. It was very enticing. It was very well worded.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I had some sample pictures of events that I had done, which were actually my own personal wedding, but they didn't know that. They didn't know who, you know, I was, and, I got my first wedding booked off Craigslist. So it is possible to book a wedding off craigslist, and it was an excellent experience for me. I got, you know, hands on experience with real life wedding planning, and I got paid for it, and I learned a lot from it and then I had something to put into my portfolio. I had a review on my website.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I had actual real life experience that made me more confident and helped me to step into my identity as an entrepreneur and wedding business owner and so that's one of the main things you want to do so craigslist totally viable option and it's free why not like just put a post up there Another free way to kind of get in front of possible future brides or people looking to book a wedding is social media and this is a little bit harder but I would be on all of the social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Maybe just choose one to start and go all in on it just putting out stuff. Like, just get a social media presence about your company out there and get in front of people. Get practice getting in front of people. Just give out free info.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Talk about how you can help people and show them samples of stuff you like, give them ideas. There's plenty of ways to get out there on social media again that is also free. I would also make a formal announcement to all of your friends and family and on your social channels. Like, just tell everyone I started this new business as a wedding planner, wedding photographer, hair and makeup artist, whatever. Here's some of my sample work that I've done.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Here's a link to my website. If you know of anybody that's looking for this, please send them my way. You'd be surprised at how many people you know through other people, and other people maybe you haven't talked to them since elementary school or whatever, but that's how you can get your first jobs. And you gotta be willing to take anything also, like, just get the experience in. So, yeah, I would tell everyone you know I would make a social announcement.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And then the another way to do it, and this I covered in my previous episode, like, in-depth, but I would reach out to planners. You should listen to that previous episode if you're curious as to how to reach out to planners in a way that actually works. And I would reach out to them and connect with them in a genuine way, and, hopefully, they can bring you some business. But just make sure that they are on the same sort of building phase as you are. You don't want to reach out to the most established vendors out there.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
You wanna reach out to people who are on the same level as you. So people who have started their business at a similar time because then you can work through building and growing your businesses together. And I would connect with as many vendors, people in the wedding industry as I could. So all of that stuff is free I would start there. If you are open to doing paid advertising, I would also consider wedding expos.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I don't do wedding expos anymore because I have a good amount of consistent inquiries that come in on their own without me having to do any paid work. Wedding expos was how I got my wedding business started and it's a great great way to get started if you're building a brand new wedding business. You can get a booth, you can have brochures, you can meet tons and tons of couples who are looking to get married, who are looking for the exact thing that you offer. What I would do or what I did do when I was first getting started with my first wedding expos is I always did like a raffle or a free drawing where they could win a free plan, you know, with you so that you could get businesses get business from couples looking for wedding planning or wedding photography or whatever. And then they would think that they're winning something amazing like this great value.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Right? But, really, you're giving away your services because you need the experience, you need the exposure, you need the reviews, you need the samples for your portfolio, and so that's a really really excellent way to get, you know, weddings under your belt is to do some kind of drawing some kind of raffle at a wedding expo and get people in get couples in with you and, you know, let them think they won this amazing prize, which they did because you're offering it for free. Everybody wants free stuff. Right? Especially with weddings when there a lot of couples are on a pretty tight budget, and they need that help, but they don't really have the budget for it.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
So this is a great way, to get your foot in the door. And once you start building these types of, you know, relationships with couples and you have the reviews, you have the sample portfolio, then you can eventually get more and more people that see you as a respected, more established vendor, and they'll be willing to pay you money because of that. So that's where a great really, really great place to start wedding expos. Another paid way you can get in front of couples is Google Ads. That is a bit of a learning curve, but you could probably spend a week just learning Google Ads and just get an ad out there.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
But remember, like, once you get the ad, the couple to your website, your website needs to be good enough to draw them in. It needs to look professional. It needs to have reviews up there. It needs to be a space that couples see as, you know, like, you're a vendor that they can trust using professional photography. You have, real weddings that you've done, real reviews.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And if you don't have that, Google Ads may not be the best way but if you have a couple of real weddings under your belt and your website looks professional and is well done, then Google Ads could be a great way. Google Ads is not very expensive either. You can spend like $5 a week and get a good amount of traffic to your website. Some of the longer term things I would consider doing is for sure SEO, search engine optimization. And if you don't know about that, you need to start looking into it.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
In my, wedding master business class, I have a whole module on SEO because I think it's that important. I think it's something that you need to start working on as soon as you can because the earlier you start implementing SEO, the it it's something that has, like, a long tail. So you wanna start putting in keywords, working on your SEO on your images and, you know, the way that your site is structured right away. Learn as much as you can about SEO. Start implementing it.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And, eventually, you'll start working your way up in Google so that when couples search for your wedding planning in wherever you are, New York photography in Oregon wedding photography in Oregon, then they will see your website pop up. And that's really, really the best way to market your business is when couples are searching for a very specific thing. It might be hair and makeup in San Francisco for weddings. Your website is on that first page, so they find you, they reach out. That's how you're gonna get the most, you know, inquiries, the most natural marketing, and it's the best way to market.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
And it's something that needs SEO is something that takes time. It took me a full year to get my wedding planning website on the first page of Google when you search Hawaii wedding planning, and and that was something that I worked on for a really, really long time. I learned a lot about it, but the effort paid off significantly because once I got ranked in Google, I didn't have to try as hard to market because people were just reaching out to me organically, and that is how I get my business now. So that's something to think about and something to start working on as soon as you can. It's worth the effort 100%.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Another long term solution or idea to work on is content posts that will also help help with SEO. So, like, your social media can have content posts, your blog, people think about doing content posts on stuff people are googling, stuff people are already wanting to know about with weddings specifically in your area specifically. That's the stuff I would do content posts on. Then, the last thing, which is hugely beneficial and I didn't realize this when I was first starting my wedding business but I see it now, is to join your local wedding association. If you're in a bigger city or a place that has a lot of weddings, you know, people are getting married everywhere but most places have a local wedding association.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
What you want to do is just join it. It's not very expensive and the main reason is to just build as many genuine connections as you can. And I would try to connect with people that are in the same building phase as you, so people that have started around the same time. If you're newer, you wanna connect with newer vendors, other photographers, other hair and makeup artists, other officiants who have started at a similar time. So, you guys can figure things out together.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
You can throw each other business. You can become long, you know, forever friends because you have been through this same, you know, difficult time together. You've trudged through the mud together, and it's hard building a business. And when you have friends and you're doing it together, it's so much nicer. And some of my best friends have started at the same time as me, and it's really important to build these connections early on.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
So that was a lot, and I hope you are able to pull out some of that and really find a way to get your wedding business started. Like, how to market when you don't have any established, you know, weddings under your belt. These are great ways to think about getting started. And another thing I just want to mention is everybody who's starting a business feels this way. It's hard.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
It's so freaking hard and it's gonna feel like you're hitting a 1,000 dead ends. And you just have to try all the things. You have to be like a gazillion percent committed. You have to be all in with no no absolutely no way of turning back. You're just like, I'm gonna make this happen.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
Like, I don't care about anything else. I'm gonna make this happen. That's the kind of attitude you have to have. You have to be all in. You have to be a 100% committed, fully fully committed in order to make this work.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
You gotta try all the things. One of those things is gonna work for you and you don't know which one it is, so you just gotta try them all. And I'm telling you, this commitment is what's gonna get you there And you will get there. You 100% will. Like, you cannot get there if you're a 100% all in.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
So, take that attitude. Go with it and kudos to you for like taking a chance on you and going all in on this dream wedding business because I gotta tell you, building a wedding business was the best thing I ever did. It is an amazing, amazing industry to be in. It's the best job, so much fun and it will work. So if you found this episode helpful, please leave me a review.
Nicole Salmoiraghi:
I would love to hear from you and I'd love to get in front of more people that could use this kind of free information or you can also connect with me by email nicole@weddingproacademy.com. If you want to learn more about the wedding business masterclass, it's weddingproacademy.com and, of course, follow me on Instagram for some daily inspiration and more of this kind of strategy type tips. My Instagram is wedding.pro.academy. Thanks so much for listening today, and have a great weekend. I can't wait to connect with you again next week.