Wedding Marketing and Development for the Bridal Industry - Think Splendid®

Tip for Muting Hashtags on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I'm genuinely interested in the people I follow on Twitter and what they have to say. Sometimes though there are conversations that I just do not care about at all, and they're typically conversations that clutter up the feed and make it difficult to see updates about anything else. Unfollowing people because of these conversations isn't really a good solution because I don't want to unfollow them completely -- I just want to tune out their updates about a TV program I have zero interest in or tipsy 3 am tweets from a conference they may be attending.

Unfortunately, Twitter doesn't offer the option to mute or filter out hashtag conversations. Fortunately, Tweetdeck does. Under settings, click on "Global Filter" and then enter the hashtags you don't want to see in your stream in the "Containing Words" field:

If you decide you do want to follow the hashtags again, just clear these settings.

PS: Hate it when people sync their Facebook or Pinterest accounts to their Twitter feed? You can filter these out on Tweetdeck as well by simply including them in the "From Sources" field.

Splendid Sundays Volume 73

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

A handful of splendid finds from around the worldwide web:

*Eventup, a new tech venture in the special events and wedding industries, launched this past week (think AirBnB for event venues).

*Redbox and Verizon are teaming up to compete with Netflix in the streaming video space.

*Why Google's controversial search changes are forcing Gilt Groupe and other companies to take Google+ seriously

*Ariel from Offbeat Bride talks about Skimlinks (the service Pinterest is using to monetize links) and how it works for her brands.

3 people to follow on Pinterest: Melissa Paul, Alice Q. Foodie, Lisa Stoner

Tangerine Tango, Color Psychology + Making the World a Better Place

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Pantone's Color of the Year marketing campaign is brilliant. In fact, it's one I'd rank up there with "A Diamond is Forever" in terms of genius. They choose a color every year and it's then seen everywhere: on the runway, in the products at your favorite store, in weddings, and so forth. It's smart marketing and it keeps them cemented as the experts in color. (Pantone does have competitors. Can you name them? No, you probably can't.)

When you consider it from a color psychology angle, this year's hue, Tangerine Tango, is a more profound choice than the colors of years past. The color orange and its varying shades evoke certain emotions, among them being optimism, ambition, desire, pride, friendliness, happiness and enthusiasm. And so Tangerine Tango has a very specific effect on people: enthusiasm and optimism about the future. After several years of a sluggish economy, wars, continuous fallout from events like the Madoff scandal, this one color getting so much press helps trigger a psychological reaction in people that transcends needless consumerism and materialism.

What happens when people are motivated? When they're enthusiastic and have a fresh boost of ambition? They go out and create things that make the world a better place in some way. Whether it's businesses that find solutions to everyday problems, improving your processes to delight your customers even more, dreaming up a way to help fund a cause you care about, or figuring out ways to make life a little more fun and a little bit lighter for your kids, enthusiasm helps get ideas off the ground and adds the fuel they need to keep going. All of this simply because you're seeing a color written about in every magazine, blog, and newspaper as well as being showcased in new product lines from companies that are happily taking their cues from Pantone.

The subconscious is a powerful thing. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe Pantone did it on purpose, but Tangerine Tango is the color 2012 needed.

Generosity Day 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Sasha Dichter, of Acumen Fund, started Generosity Day last year as a day to say "yes" and be generous to requests that we may typically ignore or overlook. The idea is that you go through the entire day saying yes when people ask for help and taking opportunities to be generous.

Generosity Day is next Tuesday, February 14th (Valentine's Day). Generosity Day can look however you want it to: giving money to someone who asks for it instead of walking by and ignoring them, buying the groceries of the person ahead of you at the store, paying for coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, or being generous with your time and volunteering at a shelter or event you normally wouldn't. Here is Sasha's TED Talk on what he learned from a month spent saying "yes." You can also read his blog posts on it here.

Click here to view video if it doesn't appear in your feed.

A quick note: The way Generosity Day is being marketed suggests that you skip Valentine's Day (celebrating love the other 364 days) and choose to be generous instead. I think this is unnecessary as the two are not mutually exclusive. More than that, I think it is dangerous. From my own non-profit days, I can tell you that about 80% of the issues families working with many "good cause" organizations face stem from a person acting more married to a cause or their work than to their spouse. So skipping flowers or gifts for your partner (especially if gifts are one of their top love languages) in favor of giving a few dollars to the homeless person who sits outside your coffee shop may seem noble, but it's probably going to leave one of those people nursing hurt feelings. Do both. Love, by its very definition, is generous, so Valentine's Day and Generosity Day go hand-in-hand and celebrating doesn't need to be a case of choosing one over the other.

Marketing to Millennials Twitter Chat

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:30:00 +0000

I'll be the guest expert next week on the Wedding Market Chat twitter series hosted by Julie Albaugh and I'll be talking about marketing to the millennial generation (also known as Gen Y) and how it relates to wedding businesses.

The chat will be next Wednesday, February 15th at 1:00 pm EST. To participate, log onto Twitter and follow the #weddingmarketchat hashtag.

On Generosity and Raising the Bar

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

There is a woman who has written more than 25 books and makes her living as a professional author and as a writing professor at a university. She was up for a literary award and lost out to a another writer -- a young author new to the scene who won the award for her very first book. The older author nursed her grudge through the event, cycling through jealousy, self-pity, and even anger. That award was rightfully hers! She had been in the industry for decades! Who was this nobody who came along and took the award after just one book? She hadn't yet paid her dues like everyone else!

After the event, the younger author approached the older one, stuck out her hand in introduction and asked, "do you remember me?"

The older author confessed that she did not.

The younger author replied, "You were my writing professor in college. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until I took your class. You were the one who inspired me to pursue a career as an author. Thank you so much -- I feel alive when I write, I love my life, and I owe that to you."

The older author was taken aback and, of course, immediately felt guilty about nursing any animosity towards the younger writer. This person she had felt jealous towards only a few moments before was crediting her for her success.

Working to leave the industry better than you found it will almost always come back to benefit you. Generosity is the backbone of social media. If you can't be generous in your content, you will never "get" social media and you will always be frustrated that it isn't working as well for you as it is for other people. Raising the bar creates more room underneath.

Sharing Your Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Perspective is deeply personal. Mine is different than yours and both of ours are different from the person's sitting at the next table. All of our experiences, all of what we've read, all of what we listen to and watch, all of our travels filter into unique perspectives that no one else shares.

And while no one else can share our exact perspectives on the world, others can relate to them in some way, draw inspiration from them, see a reflection of themselves in them. The people that relate to our perspectives are the people we want as clients. The ones who "get" us and "get" the work that we do.

People can't hire you for your perspective if you aren't first showing them what your perspective is. If you're constantly quoting other blogs, magazines, industry peers or leaders, and never offering your original take, then you are only lumping yourself in with everyone else. To get the clients you really want, the ones who really "get" you, you first have to be willing to embrace the fact that some people won't relate to your perspective at all, that some people will never "get" you. And then you have to share more of your perspective than you do someone else's.

Easy enough to write or read about, much more difficult to actually do.

Splendid Sundays Volume 72

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

A handful of splendid finds from around the worldwide web:

*Why Facebook is Making People Sad

*The link between child marriage and poverty (and its connection to global wedding revenue).

*David's Bridal released their sixth annual survey on bridal spending.

*For a lighthearted break, check out Practical Ryan Gosling, a wedding-related spin on the Hey Girl meme.

3 people to follow on Pinterest: Courtney from Pizzazzerie, Zainab Alsalih from Carousel, Brandy Rammel

On Achieving Big Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Achieving big goals requires you to become a bigger person. You must develop new habits, abilities, skills, and attitudes. -- Vic Johnson

The Myth of Practice Makes Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Studies have shown that the way a person practices is more of an indicator of improvement than the amount of time they spend practicing.

If you want to get better faster or take your company to the next level more quickly, go back through your old weddings and evaluate what went wrong, what you could have done better, how you could have delighted the client even more. Going forward, take these notes within a day after a wedding is over. Write them down so you can refer back to them later. Have your team do the same.

This really is the secret sauce. You will be a lot further down the road in ten years if you review, critique and evaluate your past work on a consistent basis and make the appropriate mid-course corrections than if you just spend the next ten years only relying on the improvements that come from repetition alone.

Moving from Envy to Excellence

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

When someone newer to the business reaches a shared goal before you do, it can be demoralizing. A bout of envy is normal, it means you're human. No one is generously enlightened and kumbaya every minute of every day.

Staying in that space and allowing your jealousy to transcend to bitterness is a mark of mediocrity.

Acknowledging that a tack different than yours worked and wasn't just a stroke of luck for your competitor is a mark of maturity.

Being willing to swallow your pride, reevaluate your own process, and make changes if necessary is a mark of excellence.

Marketing Words to Avoid

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Here are some words that are commonly used in marketing but are proven to increase distrust and skepticism in potential clients, resulting in fewer sales: innovative, amazing, ultimate, premiere, solutions, turnkey, unbeatable, unique, revolutionary, synergy, proactive, outside the box, integrated.

If you feel like you're overselling when you're writing your marketing copy, you probably are. Own your success and expertise, don't overstate it.

On Choosing Generosity Over Scarcity

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

My business is where it is today because of people who have gone before me and who weren't scared to share their hard-earned wisdom. Whether through books, blogs or in person meetings, these people recognized that sharing their knowledge wasn't a threat to their livelihood, but something worthwhile. I could never repay what they've done for me; all I can do is follow their lead of choosing generosity over scarcity.

There's no such thing as a self-made business. There's always more to be gained from strengthening others through sharing than from hoarding.

Abundance of Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It's no secret that the barrier to entry for businesses in the wedding industry is low. Very few of the sub-industries outside of food and beverage and cosmetology have government regulations. People can launch brands, print some cards and be in business in a matter of hours.

Of course, this leads to the industry being home to a number of inexperienced, mediocre businesses. The silver lining is that it means it is also home to a number of truly amazing artists and professionals.

In today's business world, there's no need to reward bad behavior. If you don't want to work with specific businesses, you have the choice not to. There's an abundance of talent. Choose to work with the companies you respect and like.

Time Management and Priorities

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The best time-management thing I do is reflect an hour a week on the overall strategic plan for myself — what do I need to do to move my priorities forward? And then there are the 10 minutes a day that I spend thinking about, “O.K., so based on the priorities for the week, how am I going to prioritize my day tomorrow?” I don’t know how I could do what I do without spending that time. I am obsessive about that system because the world seems to be moving faster and faster, so you have to figure out how to still drive things proactively instead of just becoming completely reactive. -- Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach for America

On Delegating Tasks

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

When you delegate a task, you have to allow for the possibility that people may royally mess it up.

This isn't a valid excuse for not delegating.

Valid Stubbornness vs Ego Stubbornness
How To Improve Your Clients' Experience

The Impact of Words

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

We all know the deadliest words and for the most part have scrubbed them from our vocabulary: "We've never done it that way."

This sentiment manifests itself though in other equally deadly phrases including "you can only" statements: "You can only reach wedding guests through the bride. It's impossible to market to them without reaching her first."

Another success killer? "That's just how it is in __________" (fill in the blank with your city).

Your words carry life, if you let them.

Transparency in Social Media
Online Communication Etiquette

Serving the Bigger Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The last photo my family has of my grandparents before they both passed away is from a wedding. It's a pretty boring photograph as far as images go, but because of the people in it, it's the one hanging in all of our homes. We're fortunate to have that boring yet special photo because the photographer recognized the value of the bigger picture.

How does what you do serve the bigger picture?

Hint: the bigger picture is never the wedding.

On Assuming the Worst
The Ebb and Flow

Simple Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

We often overlook or dismiss the simple solutions because they seem, well, too simple. So we spend time and money making things more complex. The more bells and whistles, the better. After all, we get what we pay for, right?

An expensive software program with to-do lists and mind maps and alarms to remind us to stop procrastipinning and procrastitweeting and to get back to work. Yes! Surely this will be the program that turns our lives around and helps us achieve our goals!

Or maybe we just need a notebook and a pen to jot down our goals and the steps we took towards them each day.

Simple almost always trumps complex. If you don't seem to be accomplishing what you'd like to, try simplifying your process. You might be surprised at the clarity that shows up once the distractions are gone.

The Cost of Comparison
Marketing to the High-End Bride

When Things Go Right

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

We tend to notice when things go wrong. Out of dozens of flights, we remember the one where the airline lost our luggage. Out of hundreds of visits to restaurants, we remember the one with the lukewarm rather than hot dish. Out of thousands of phone calls, we remember the ones that were dropped.

What if this week we made a note of everything that goes right? Doing so requires actively pay attention, developing an acute awareness of the world around us. I'm curious to learn what else we'll start noticing when we stop taking our daily routines for granted.

Zen and the Art of Social Media
Four Ways a Blog Can Help Your Business

Splendid Sundays Volume 71

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

A handful of splendid finds:

*U.S. postage rates go up today. Erika at Delphine put together a cheat sheet with common wedding stationery items and their new postage prices.

*The power of a wedding film, 25 years later.

*A sneak peek at Christian Siriano's new bridal line for Nordstrom.

*Another in an interesting trend: Brazil passed a law that states that companies emailing their employees after work hours counts as overtime.

3 people to follow on Pinterest: Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion, Vane from Brooklyn Bride, Chelsea from frolic!

Failures of Design

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Clutter and overload are not an attribute of information they are failures of design. -- Edward Tufte

Advice for New Wedding Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

This post is specifically written towards people new to the wedding industry. If you've been around for a while, feel free to skip it. Or not. Totally up to you.

For those of you who are new to the wedding industry, welcome! It's a fun and challenging industry and one that has afforded many people great opportunities. I hope it does the same for you. Many people new to the industry tend to make the same mistakes when they're starting out, so I wanted to address some of those here so you can take note and not allow these to hold you back.

*If anywhere in your bio you say that you fell in love with weddings while planning your own wedding, rewrite your bio. This sentiment may be true, but the reality is that it has become a cliche and it is one that makes it very difficult for both potential clients AND your colleagues to take you seriously. What else, besides your own nuptials, do you love about weddings? Write about that instead.

*The same goes for being born with a camera in your hand, a paintbrush in your hand, etc.

*Your own wedding should never be included in your gallery portfolio. It doesn't matter if you've planned corporate events for 15 years and just recently got married -- having your own wedding in your gallery makes you look inexperienced.

*If your job requires you to be on site the day of a wedding (photographers, bands, planners, floral designers, caterers, etc), make sure you have the proper insurance for your profession and your state. This is not something you can skip until you become more successful or until you decide if you really like your new career or not. About 10% of weddings have a guest either die or get seriously injured (heart attacks are common as are alcohol-related incidents). Make sure you're covered legally before you need it.

*Do what you have to to make your business work for YOU (within ethical bounds, of course). I did a lot of things "wrong" when I started in weddings: I didn't join the associations everyone said I had to, I didn't advertise where I was supposed to, I didn't wait 5 years to charge what I was worth, I became friends with my clients when everyone said I should keep a "professional" distance and so on. I was running my business for ME and my life circumstances. I had to make it work for ME. And it did work, even though I broke all the "rules."

*This also pissed a lot of people off and some of them started saying mean things . . . some REALLY mean things. I am not going to lie: their words stung. It hurt that people who had met me in passing at a cocktail party were saying things about me and my life that weren't true. Then one day I realized that it didn't really matter what any of my competitors thought because they weren't the ones writing me checks. So, if you run into haters -- and if you start being successful you definitely will -- throw yourself a fully-catered pity party for about 20 minutes and then get back to work. Your haters aren't the ones writing you checks.

*Don't expect everyone to fight fair. More importantly, don't allow that to make you cynical.

*Know your industry history. Respect the fact that there are a lot of people who have been doing what you do for a very long time and doing it well. At the same time, while it's totally okay to look up to the people you admire, make sure that you don't put them on a pedestal. They're just people.

*Take all social media bragging with a grain of salt. All of it.

*There's a book by Marianne Williamson that I love and in it she says, "Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others won't feel insecure around you." I was once told by a well-intentioned but misguided mentor that I would need to dumb myself down if I ever wanted to get married. I decided that there are worse things than being single. I also decided to stop meeting with that mentor and embrace the truth in this quote instead. Tape it to your computer, your mirror, your fridge, your wallet . . . wherever you'll see it when you're tempted to do anything but your best out of fear of being judged.

On Measuring Success
On Giving Clients What They Want

On Others Judging You

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

If you put something online, it's fair game for people to judge it. If you don't want 3,000 people judging your marriage, don't tweet about your fights with your spouse.

At the same time, if you want your work to change the world, you have to put it out there so people can experience it, and yes, judge it.

Not getting judged at all isn't the option. Define your boundaries and then put yourself out there.

Getting Creativity Out the Door
Amateurs Add, Professionals Edit

SOPA and Your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Liene Stevens) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

There are more than 7000 websites, including Wikipedia, that went offline today as part of a protest against a bill up for congressional vote called SOPA. Several others darkened content as part of the protest (take a look at the front pages of Google and Wordpress.com). SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which is a nice-sounding name (who doesn't hate copyright theft?), except that the bill goes well-beyond that.

Mashable has a great article on it and here's a link to an infographic that explains more about what SOPA is.

Here's a hypothetical situation:

A bride buys her wedding invitations off of Etsy. What she doesn't know is that the Etsy seller knocked off the designs from another invitation designer.

At the wedding, the photographer takes a photo of the invitation.

The wedding gets published on a famous wedding blog. The bride is ecstatic and so are all of the wedding pros who worked with her. The bride shares photos on Facebook, on her own personal blog and in the two wedding forums she's a part of. The photographer and other wedding pros share some of the images on their own company blogs and in their portfolio galleries.

A reader loves the invitation photo and pins it on Pinterest. Another reader loves it and shares it on Tumblr. Yet another reader includes it in her inspiration board which she then submits to another famous wedding blog as part of a giveaway contest.

The original invitation designer -- the one who the Etsy seller shamelessly copied -- sees her copyrighted design everywhere with someone else getting credit and complains.

Under SOPA, every single website that posted this image could be blocked -- without a trial or court hearing -- regardless of whether or not they knew the invitation violated copyright. Every single one. This means that the wedding professionals' websites and blogs would no longer be able to be accessed. The professional wedding blogs would lose all ad revenue and for most of them, their entire business.

Is this scenario likely to happen? Probably only if a judge decides to make a very public example out of it, like they did with the teens fined millions of dollars for illegally downloading music. Still, under SOPA it could legally happen, whereas right now it can't.

You can send an email to your congressional reps here asking that they vote against both SOPA and a similar bill called PIPA.