WeddingWire Vendor Blog

2009 Wedding MBA: “Pimp My Marketing” Plan

Meg — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:13:56 +0000

WeddingWire had a great time at the 2009 Wedding MBA Convention, the world’s biggest convention dedicated to teaching you how to make money in the wedding business, last week in Las Vegas. WeddingWire’s CEO, Timothy Chi, and CMO, Sonny Ganguly, had the opportunity to educate attendees in a two part ‘Pimp My Marketing’ series on the latest trends to help increase online exposure and further reach to today’s engaged couples. We have had such a great response on the material we discussed that we decided to share the information with the entire WeddingWire Community.

‘Pimp My Marketing’ Season 1: Email strategies, SEO basics, and top online sites
‘Pimp My Marketing’ Season 2: SEM basics, tracking and monitoring, and top online sites

Again, we had a great time meeting all the attendees at this year’s convention. We hope to see everyone at the 2010 WMBA Convention, which will be in Las Vegas again!

Best of the Web: September

Meg — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:31:05 +0000

Each month we will highlight some of our favorite sites on the web and show how they can help you run your business more efficiently. This month we feature Animoto, Issuu and Mint.

Animoto: Animoto is one of our favorite new sites on the internet. It is the easiest way to make professionally produced videos from your existing images, and it does it automatically. Simply upload some of your photos, add some copy, and pick a song. Animoto does the rest! Within a couple minutes the site will create a professional quality video for your business using ‘Cinematic Artificial Intelligence.’ Animoto videos have “the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.” We love the quality of the videos, they look great on your WeddingWire storefront, and you can get started for free!

Issuu: Do you have a presentation coming up? Looking to create a wow factor with your next client? Issuu is an online publisher that allows you to publish your presentations, documents, sales kits, brochures, magazines and more online. You can send a link to potential clients and they can flip through the contents just like reading a book. Issuu allows you to create a free account and is a great way to showcase your portfolio. Simply add a link to your work in your email footers.

Mint: Mint claims to be ‘the best Free way to manage your money,’ and so far we think they may be right. The site allows you to link all your accounts in one place, from checking and savings accounts, to credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and more. Mint makes it easy to track your spending and provides detailed breakdowns by various categories. Even better, the site sends a notice any time an upcoming payment is coming up or if any of your accounts are hit with unwanted fees. Mint is like having a personal money manager on your staff that doesn’t get paid!

Introducing Vendor to Vendor Chat

Meg — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:49:37 +0000

WeddingWire has teamed up with Meebo, one of the largest social media companies on the web, to provide a new real-time vendor to vendor chat feature within your WeddingWire account. Now you can ask questions, get feedback, or simply communicate with vendors you know from anywhere across the country. Whether you are updating your Storefront or perusing the Vendor Education Center, the chat feature will be visible in the lower right hand corner of your account so that you can easily connect with other vendors.

Don’t see any buddies on your list? Simply connect with other vendors through the Vendors I Know tool, located in the “My Community” section. Once the connection is approved by the other vendors, their names will show up on your buddy list.

The new Meebo feature also allows you to gather all of your friends on a single buddy list from within your WeddingWire account, so you can communicate in real-time across different IM platforms and social networks, including AIM, Twitter, and Facebook Chat. All you have to do is log-in to your Meebo account from within the new vendor chat bar to access your accounts. And if you don’t have a Meebo account, you can easily register for an account and then connect with your various IM and social network accounts straight from the new vendor chat bar.

Log-in to your WeddingWire account and check it out today!

New WeddingWire Commerical

Meg — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:54:55 +0000

Check out our new WeddingWire commercial to see why over 100,000 vendors have joined the WeddingWire Network.

Best of the Web: August

Meg — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:36:13 +0000

There are millions of sites on the web, and hundreds of new ones popping up each day. Which sites should you care about? Which can help you grow your business? Each month we will highlight some of our favorite sites on the web and show how they can help you run your business more efficiently. This month we feature Mashable, iStock Photo and Wufoo.

Mashable: Wondering how Twitter appeared out of nowhere? Or maybe what new online sites can help you grow your business? Are you looking to keep up with the latest trends on the internet? Mashable is one of the largest blogs dedicated to social media and it is one of our favorite sites to stay on top of today’s online trends. You’ll find the latest news about Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, the iPhone and much more. Mashable allows you to easily become a tech guru!

iStock Photo: Are you looking to find high quality wedding photos? Want to make sure you own the rights to the photos? iStock Photo is the largest royalty-free stock photo destination on the internet. The site boasts over 4 million different images, and each file can be purchased for as little as $1 and then used as often as you’d like. If you’re looking to update marketing materials or any of your bridal images, take a look at the variety of images iStock Photo has to offer.

WuFoo: Don’t let the funny name fool you, Wufoo is one of the easiest ways to collect information over the internet. The site allows you to easily create contact forms, online surveys and invitations so that you can collect data, registrations and even online payments. What’s best, is that you don’t need to be a web developer to create the forms! So whether you have an upcoming event or want to do some market research, Wufoo allows you to create forms easily and the first 3 are free.

Bing: The Decision Engine

Meg — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:00:29 +0000

You may have heard the buzz surrounding Microsoft’s recently launched search engine, Bing. Bing is the long-awaited site which many are already calling a worthy competitor to Google, the search engine phenomenon. Developers refer to Bing as a ‘decision engine,’ rather than a ‘search engine.’ Why? Because Bing is intended to help you make better decisions rather than to simply provide you with a wealth of information which may or may not answer to your needs.

What is Bing?

Bing is essentially a search engine. It was created and recently launched by Microsoft in order to compete with Google. Here are some of the main features of Bing developed to help improve the user search engine experience:

Explorer Pane: A pane on the left-hand side where you can not only see your results organized in categories but also related searches.
Related Searches: A section that produces more organized and relevant results, as compared to the way Google currently showcases them.
Users have the ability to preview site content on search results, so you don’t click on sites you don’t need.
Preview a video without clicking on it simply by holding your mouse over it.
Track and store your previous searches in your search history, which is accessible in the explorer pane.

Advanced Features

There are some features that go beyond what you would expect from an upgraded version of a search engine, which include:

Video Search: You have the option to filter in the explorer pane by length, screen size, resolution and source.
Image Search: Instead of flipping though pages of images, you can scroll to find the image you prefer.
Shopping Search: Results can be sorted by price, brand, category and you can see reviews of items and even get cash back on certain purchases from bing.com.
Instant Answers:
- Get automatic calculations when entering in math calculations.
- Access your flight status simply by typing in a flight number and even access price trends for flights to determine when you should purchase.
- Get direct stock information by entering the company name or stock symbol and either “stock” or “quote” in the search box

Bing vs. Google

Google has been working on some new adjustments recently to combat any competition that Microsoft has created with launch of Bing. Google Squared, a product still in creation, is a different way Google searches for information throughout the internet in order to understand content better and provide results that are more effective for users. Google Base is also a product that may affect the future of searching online, allowing users to add content that, once deemed relevant by Google, will appear in a web search.

The Future of Bing

The sustainability of the recent popularity and growth of Bing as a choice for online search is still to be determined. It is important, however, to monitor the success of Bing, as it might be an outlet to consider for your future marketing efforts.

A final fun fact: The home page background showcases a different photograph each day with little bits of trivia information and links relating to the photo. Very appealing to the eye.

What are your thoughts on Bing? Leave for us in the comments section!

Ultimate Twitter Toolbox

Meg — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:44:01 +0000

Searching for an easier way to manage your business Twitter account (s)? Here at WeddingWire we are big fans of HootSuite. HootSuite is a great Twitter toolbox, in which you can manage multiple Twitter profiles, add numerous editors, track your success and even schedule tweets in advance - all from one easy-to-use interface. It’s a great way to stay on top of your Twitter accounts, allow multiple staff members to contribute as editors, and stay up-to-date on your tweets even on your busiest days. When using Twitter for a business, it’s important to see what captures the interest of your followers. In using the HootSuite ow.ly URL shortener, you can track click-throughs on your tweeted links, which will help you monitor messages and see which capture the interest of your followers.

Sign-up is simple. Create your free HootSuite account, add a profile for each Twitter account you have, and start managing.

And that’s not all…HootSuite offers users the option to add the HootSuite Hootlet to your bookmark toolbar so that you can quickly tweet the pages you are browsing. When using the Hootlet, the page title, the name of the site, and the ow.ly shortened link is automatically created in a pop-up window for you. From here you can submit the tweet or schedule it for later. Its features like this that really help simplify the overall Twitter process!

Visit www.HootSuite.com today to get started!

Keeping Up With The Jones’

Brian — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:11:40 +0000

Staying up-to-date with business and marketing trends is critical to any company, but especially in an industry like weddings where most marketing happens online these days. But information doesn’t just fall from the sky, it means we have to do some homework. Finding time to learn something new everyday might not fit into your schedule, but carving out an hour or so a few days a week should be a priority, after all your clients expect you stay current with today’s trends.

Keeping current with wedding trends is probably easy as you know where and how to find that information, but what about search engine marketing trends? Or Search Engine Optimization tactics? Or web design best practices?

To start, you’ll need a RSS reader account. I’ll suggest using Google Reader as it’s free and easy to setup. Below are a few of the websites I follow regularly:

Social Media Trends:

Search Marketing:

Search Engine Optimization

Web Design

And a few others for good measure

Yoast & WpRecipes- Wordpress Tips
Web Worker Daily - Advice on working remotely
Chris Brogan - Tips for creating online content and communities
WeddingWire Education Center Blog - In case you’re not already subscribed

Hopefully this is enough to get you started. And if this seems like too many, I have over 50 feeds in my Google Reader account at the moment (and I know people with many more!)

How many feeds are you following currently? Got any other great sites to suggest?

Social Networking Results Are In…

Meg — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:45:00 +0000

In today’s wired world, engaging in social media is a powerful way to help increase your brand awareness and reach potential clients. Just take a look at the recent results of surveys conducted by Nielsen Online:

Over 67 percent of online users are engaging in “Member Communities”, which includes social networks and blogs, making it more popular than personal email.
Twitter continues as the fastest growing social networking site, growing in popularity as not only a means of communication between friends, but as an essential part of brand marketing.
While topping the charts for the number of unique visitors, Facebook also leads the way for stickiness, with the average user spending 3 hours and 16 minutes on the site. The average Twitter user sticks around for about 12 minutes.

Top 5 Social Networking Sites

It is evident in these results that social networking has become an essential part of today’s online experience. At WeddingWire, we are committed to educating and connecting you with numerous social networks in order to extend your reach to today’s wired brides.

How To: Create a Facebook Fan Page

Meg — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:50:45 +0000

Facebook fan Page is a public profile you can create and personalize to showcase your business and services to Facebook users. With over 200 million registered users, creating a Facebook Page is one way to help reach your customers and potential clients. The best part is it’s completely free!

Creating a Page is easy. Simply visit Facebook Pages, click on “Create a Page” and let the fun begin.

Step 1: Pick Category & Name
Choose a category that best fits the services you provide. Please note that you will not be able to change your category once you choose, so pick the closest match. Next, choose a name for your Page. Since this Page is for your business, you should use your business name. This will help extend your brand awareness. Click “Create Page.”

Step 2: Picture Time
Click “Upload a Picture” at the top of your Page and upload a photo. A logo or a picture that represents your business is the best choice.

Step 3: Add Info
Underneath your profile picture you will see “Add Information to this Page”. Click this and enter in as much detailed information as you can about your business. The more information you provide about who you are and what you do, the more beneficial your Page will be.

Step 4: Content, Content, Content
You will find that your Page has multiple tabs in which you can personalize. You can post photos, videos, showcase your upcoming events, highlight your promotions and more. Remember the key is to provide rich content that users can interact with and spread virally to their friends, so highlight all of your business features and showcase your best of best.

Step 5: You are Officially Published
It’s publishing time. Simply click the “Publish this Page” and voilà, your Page is officially shared with the world. Although having a personal website is essential to business, your Facebook Page helps you connect and interact with your target audience.

Step 6: Promote your Page
Promoting your Page is a key part to helping spread the word to new customers and fans. One way of doing this is to put a link to your Page on your website, on your blog and in your email signature. When promoting your Page, make sure to encourage your customers to interact with your Page and show their support as “fans”. The more fans that interact with your Page, the more exposure your business will get and the better chance you have at reaching your potential clients through Facebook.

Facebook Pages are easy to create and can serve as another means to help extend your reach to today’s wired brides. Take advantage of this free and unlimited social media platform today!

Become a fan of the WeddingWire Page!

LinkedIn DirectAds updated to include CPC ads

Brian — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:50:55 +0000

LinkedIn has been beefing up their advertising platform to bring it more in line with Facebook recently and today on the LinkedIn Blog, they announced that their DirectAds advertising platform has been updated to include CPC (cost per click) ads. Previously, they were just offering impression based ad packages which isn’t ideal to small businesses with smaller marketing budgets. Now that CPC ads are an option, why not try LinkedIn advertising. Many of you have tried Google Ads by now and some even Facebook ads. While LinkedIn doesn’t have the same user base and web traffic as either of those two sites (only about 37 million members), many will fall into the typical age range of engaged couples. As the internet space becomes more crowded, branching out and trying different marketing avenues is a must.

When will Twitter release a CPC ad platform?

The Five C’s of Social Media

Meg — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:50:42 +0000

What is the foundation of social media? A simple question with multiple ways to respond, but I found a great post this morning that discusses the 5 C’s that make up the foundation of social media marketing.

Conversation: Go where the conversations are taking place - Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, etc. Establish accounts and create your identity. Stay up-to-date with your accounts and participate often. Really get to know your followers and audience so you can actively participate.

Community: Seize the opportunity to not only join and participate in conversations, but add your own value. This is how you create a community, which you must work to maintain and earn the trust of your followers. A good site for community building (in addition to the ones mentioned above) is Ning. Ning allows its users to create their own social websites and social networks. It’s a good place to create a form or community around your product, which in return can produce useful user feedback.

Commenting: It’s important to maintain a relationship with your audience, so always be engaged. Track everything so you can respond to comments, whether they are comments to your blog posts, tweets, videos, etc. In addition, comment on other individuals posts, tweets, etc. The more engaged you are, the better response you will get.

Collaboration: Think of your followers as your partners. They are your most loyal brand endorsers. Only friend and follow the people who are conversing about your brand and collaborate with them regularly. Do not spam them or push your product on them. Create the environment for them to want to learn more and endorse you.

Contribution: Content is essential to being successful in social media. Create creative content that is engaging, unique, and news worthy. Make your audience want to learn more and want to share what they learn with their friends (Digg, Reddit, Stumble, Delicious, YouTube, etc.). Encourage others to promote your content too.

Follow the 5 C’s and you are on the right track to successfully marketing your business on the social web. For a more detailed look at the core ingredients that define social media, I highly recommend you check out Michael Fruchter’s full post!

What do you consider the foundation of social media to be? Share in the comments!

WeddingWire’s February Events & Travels

Meg — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:04:17 +0000

It’s a busy time of year at WeddingWire headquarters. We have been traveling all over the country sharing our industry knowledge, meeting and networking with vendors like you, and of course reaching out to brides!

Here are a few places we have been:

2009 Catersource and Event Solutions Conference & Tradeshow
Last week, WeddingWire attended the 2009 Catersource and Event Solutions Conference & Tradeshow in Las Vegas, NV. It its 16th year, this educational conference and tradeshow brought together catering professionals from all over the world. This year’s conference featured numerous sessions on how to market, staff and manage catering companies and provided professionals with the skills and networking opportunities needed to support business and increase bottom line.

WeddingWire had the opportunity to meet many of the catering attendees during the Tradeshow and Wedding Networking event. The trip was very successful and we look forward to all the new members joining the WeddingWire network!

Association of Wedding Gown Specialists
Sonny Ganguly, WeddingWire’s Chief Marketing Officer, attended the annual meeting for the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists in San Antonio, TX, this past weekend. Sonny presented on Reaching Today’s Wired Bride, and then also led round table discussions on internet marketing, social media, and site traffic.

Running of the Brides
Filene’s Basement is most famous for its annual Bridal Gown Events called “Running of the Brides,” where brides-to-be can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars on designer wedding gowns. WeddingWire teams up with Filene’s Basement to promote and support these events in numerous locations throughout the year. Here the video from last Friday’s NYC Event. Check out the WeddingWire users wearing “The Best & The Bridest” pink t-shirts in the front of the line!

Houston Wedding Showcase
WeddingWire sponsored and attended the Houston Wedding Showcase last Saturday. The Houston Wedding Showcase is a one-stop wedding planning show for engaged couples in the Houston area and is produced by two bridal show producers that have a combined 25 years of experience in the industry. This year’s February show was a huge success, attracting thousands of brides. WeddingWire is proud to be a sponsor of this fresh and innovative bridal show in one of the country’s largest bridal markets!

Stay tuned for more WeddingWire events!

Marketing vs. Advertising

Meg — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:05:00 +0000

What is the difference between marketing and advertising? Although it seems like a simple question, it is very common to confuse the definition of the two.

By definition marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, and delivering offerings that have value for consumers and society at large (American Marketing Association). Marketing is the first step in developing a product or service. Seth Godin said it perfectly in his recent post, “Just about every successful product or service is the result of smart marketing thinking first, followed by a great product that makes the marketing story come true.”

Advertising is the act or practice of calling public attention to your product, service, need, etc. (dictionary.com). Advertising includes paid ads, which can be online, in print, on billboards, etc. Advertising is a main component of marketing.

A good way to look at it is to think of marketing as a pie, in which you have slices that include advertising, market research, product branding, interactive media, SEO, sales strategy, lead generation, consumer involvement, customer support, and more. Marketing is everything you do as a small business to facilitate a connection between your business and your consumer.

Our goal at WeddingWire is to provide the platform for vendors in the wedding industry to do both. As a vendor you can create an account and build your Storefront, which helps you create and communicate your product offerings to your consumers (engaged couples). Our vendor catalog, which is listed off of numerous networks (i.e. Martha Stewart Weddings, BridalBuds, WeddingAces), serves as a means of advertisement for your business for all incoming engaged couples to see.

What are your thoughts on marketing and advertising? Share your feedback in the comments sections!

WeddingWire’s 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards

Meg — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:05:34 +0000

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards! This new annual award program, launched at the beginning of the week, is unlike other award programs in our industry in which winners are selected by the company. This year’s winners were determined exclusively by recent newlyweds from the WeddingWire community through survey results and reviews. This year’s high-performing winners represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community.

We want to thank all the winners for their hard work and dedication to the wedding industry!

Remember…reviews are one part of the nomination process, so don’t forget to invite your 2009 clients to review your services on WeddingWire in order to put you one step closer to being eligible for 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards! Simply visit the Marketing section of your WeddingWire account to invite your past clients to review your services.

Tag your images on WeddingWire

Meg — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:13:35 +0000

So you have all these great images uploaded to your WeddingWire Storefront, why not show them off? All tagged vendor images are published to the Ideas section for brides to see! Brides currently have the ability to search the Ideas section images, save their favorite images to their binder, and will soon also have more ways to integrate your images into their planning experience! And since your business name is linked to all your tagged images, this serves as another way to reach our community of brides.

Log-in to your WeddingWire account today and start tagging your images!

What’s New: BridalBuds & WeddingAces

Meg — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:50:12 +0000

WeddingWire recently launched two blog communities for engaged couples. The best part is the vendor catalog is featured on each blog, making it easy for incoming brides (and grooms) to find you!

Bridalbuds.com - Real wedding experiences, wedding planning tips, DIY projects, and more from current engaged couples going through the planning process along with advice from newlyweds who have previously been in their position.

WeddingAces.com - Firsthand knowledge and experiences straight from the experts of the wedding industry! The diverse group of wedding bloggers featured on WeddingAces are actively involved within the WeddingWire network, blogosphere, and wedding industry.

Become a fan of our new sites on Facebook: BridalBuds and WeddingAces!

Word Clouds Galore

Meg — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:09:41 +0000

In follow-up to yesterday’s historical Presidential Inauguration, I thought I would focus on something fun today….like word clouds! By definition a word cloud or tag cloud is a visual depiction of the word content or user-generated tags of a site (Wikipedia). Word clouds are a great way of showcasing the words most commonly used throughout websites, blog posts, speeches, etc.

So wondering what words were used most often in President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address compared to past Presidents? Check out these word clouds I found:

President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address - 2009

President George W. Bush’s Second Inaugural Address - 2005

President Bill Clinton’s Second Inaugural Address - 1997

A very interesting comparison! You can easily make your own word cloud of your blog or website by visiting www.wordle.net.

Wed We Can - Changing the Face of Wedding Planning

Meg — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:02:18 +0000

On this historic 56th Presidential Inauguration Day, I invite you to visit www.WedWeCan.com. Our ‘Wed We Can’ campaign, which launched today, focuses on the change WeddingWire has brought to online wedding planning. Seeing as the internet has revolutionized the way engaged couples can plan their weddings, WeddingWire provides the technology for engaged couples to simplify and streamline their planning process and easily connect with vendors like you!

Check out the site and press release!

Do you Digg it?

Meg — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:42:05 +0000

Do you have a Digg account? If so, add me as a friend (megcolek) so I can follow what you Digg! If not, I highly recommend that you join (it’s free!).

Digg is a great place to discover and share content from around the Web, from the smallest blog entries to major news sources. All articles are submitted and voted on by individuals like you!

With your account you can:

Submit and share content you create (press releases, blog entries, papers, etc.)
Search for the latest and top rated news, images, videos from a variety of industries
Share your opinion in the comments section
Personalize your Digg account
Follow what your friends are Digging

It’s also easy to Digg (i.e. submit) content. Just locate and click the Digg icon ( ) on the post or article you are reading and easily submit the link. You can find the Digg icon at the bottom of this post!

Become a member today!

Digg anything lately? Share in the comments section!

What’s your traffic?

Meg — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:02:26 +0000

Interested in seeing how many visitors you get to your website or blog? Check out this list of 50 analytics tools you can use to monitor and analyze your web traffic. The list comprises of everything from analytic software packages to other tools for market research data and site rankings. You will also find a variety of free basic tools and some that are more advanced and cost a fee. All and all, it’s one big list. Thanks to Cameron at Mashable for her excellent compiling skills!

How do you measure your web traffic? Share in the comments section.

Get More Online Referrals

Meg — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:03:03 +0000

How do you generate new business? This is very good question to ask yourself. Through surveys and discussions, we have found that a significant amount of vendors in the industry rely on referrals from their happy customers (”word of mouth”) and networking groups for business growth. Relying solely on these two ways of generating new business can make it very challenging for vendors to sometimes predict and control business growth. This is where the internet can play in.

I found a good post that highlights some key things to consider when looking to use the internet to get more referrals. Here is a quick summary:

Great product and service = happy customer. Word spreads fast online so having happy and satisfied customers will help your business (subscribing to your blog, connecting with you on LinkedIn, following you on Twitter, etc.). On the other hand, unhappy customers can easily cause harm to your online reputation. So make sure to maintain a high level of your product and service!

Be committed! Your clients have to be willing to refer you, so you have to be committed to making sure they see success and are please with your product and service. To do this, you have to know your client and develop a level of understanding and trust. Look for ways to always maintain and improve this relationship to make sure expectations are being met.

Give good reason. Find ways to connect with your clients online by engaging in inbound marketing – create good, educational content on your website (that is easy to understand), blog about yourself and your business, engage in social interaction with your clients (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.). All of these ways will help you connect with your clients and in return give them a good reason to refer you.

So I turn the question over to you, how do you generate more business? Share in the comments section!

Build Your Twitter Community

Brian — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:46:45 +0000

In order to maximize on what Twitter has to offer, it’s important to build your community. To do this you have to start by figuring out what your objective is. Do you want to keep your followers up-to-date on your business? Do you want to share dialogue with followers, maybe potential clients? Do you want to stay ahead of the social media curve? Whatever your objective is, it is important to determine it first and then dive right in!

I found a great list of 10 tips to guide you in establishing your community. Here is a quick summary:

DO - create a user-friendly ID. Your Twitter ID is part of your personal brand, so use your name or business name. If neither of these are available, blend them or stay as close to them as you can (ex: MegWW). Also, the shorter the name the better!

DO - search for people. It’s complete normal and accepted to follow people you don’t know (a huge part of what Twitter is all about). So search for people in the wedding industry or even people from an industry you don’t know much about! Try Twitter Search or Twellow to find people to follow.

DO - learn the lingo. This is essential to really understanding Twitter (like learning text message lingo - omg, np, bfn, etc.). Check out some of the Twitter lingo.

DO - follow @ replies to you. Conversations happen quickly once you build your community, so stay on top of those commenting on your tweets by using Twitter Search or setting up a Google Alert.

DO - add your Twitter ID to all of your email signatures. A simple “Follow me on Twitter: (Enter Twitter link with Twitter ID name)” will work!

DO - say something! Be active, no matter if it is “good morning!” Put yourself out there and participate in conversations.

DO - read up on those who follow you. It’s good to know your audience, especially when you are looking for conversation starters.

DO - promote others. The more good you put out there, the more you receive (think karma). So promote others and soon the tables could turn and people could start promoting you. A win-win.

DO - learn etiquette. Learn when you should reply “@” or send DM (direct message).

DO - follow the big players. No…it’s not a popularity contest, but you can learn some great things from some of the top players. Here are some of the top.

I definitely recommend you check out Sarah Evan’s full post for more details, but hope the quick summary helped!

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/weddingwire

Facebook hits 150 million users

Meg — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:23:46 +0000

Facebook reached a big milestone yesterday. There are now 150 million people around the world actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using the site every day, according to a post on the official Facebook Blog yesterday. Back in August 2008, the site hit 100 million active users, which means the number of active users has grown 50% in a matter of 4 months! And not to mention, the site is less than 5 years old.

What started off as a platform utilized mostly by college students, Facebook is now being used by people of all ages, including grandparents, parents, and children. The site is also available in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories.

As mentioned in a previous post, Facebook can be used as great online resource to help you reach today’s wired brides!

New to Facebook? Set up your free account today and get started!

Do you have any predictions on how the site will continue to evolve in 2009? Share them in the comments section!

Google Reader: your personalized online newspaper

Meg — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:36:39 +0000

Personally, I scan a lot of blogs every morning to stay on top of the trends and to see what people are up to. Given the amount of content out there, my morning ritual was simplified when a friend referred me to Google Reader. Now I can easily scan my own personalized online newspaper every morning!

Google Reader is a great tool and has definitely made the scanning process more efficient and has helped me discover many new blogs. I found a great detailed Google Reader how-to guide that should offer a little something for everyone - whether you are new to Google Reader or a veteran user.

Here is my quick summary to help you get started.

Setup - It’s simple and no downloading is needed! Just visit the Google Reader main page and sign in using your Google account or create a new one. Once complete, it’s time to find some content to read!

Find Content- If you are new to the world of blogs or just looking to add more, there are a few ways to add content:
- Click the “Browse for stuff” link and go to the “Browse” tab. Let the searching begin.
- Manually enter the URL of a blog into the “Add Subscription” area and Google Reader will usually find the feed and automatically add it for you (thanks Google!).
- Locate the “Subscribe To This Feed” button on the blog of the site you want to follow (should be easy to find).
Organize- As soon as you start subscribing to a lot of feeds, you will want to keep track of them in the same way you would your emails or files on your computer - create folders.
- To create folders simply click on any one of your subscriptions in the left navigation bar until it opens up in the main reading pane. Click on the button “Feed Settings” at the top of the page and select “New Folder”. Assign a useful name to it and click “Ok”. And voila - folder created!

After this you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your personalized online newspaper! For more details, definitely check out the how-to-guide.

What blogs do you like to follow?

Benefits of Social Media

Meg — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:58:16 +0000

Check out the results of a survey, summarized in eMarketer and Mashable yesterday, that outlines the benefits of embracing social media marketing. Respondents were from the Marketing Executives Networking Group.

Customer engagement took first place, with 85% of surveyed executives citing it as the main benefit of using social media marketing. Only 21% of executives, however, think that it is a “great lead generation source”. That means most of those surveyed do not think social media directly impacts sales.

Regardless, the majority of respondents agreed that there are numerous benefits to engaging in social media marketing, given it is low in cost, it can be used a source of feedback and results, and it allows for direct customer communication.

Although this was a small survey, I think the take away message is that it would be beneficial to utilize social media marketing as one of your marketing mediums for 2009.

What do you think the benefits are for using social media marketing? Do you plan to incorporate more of it in 2009?

Looking for someone on Twitter?

Meg — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:31:22 +0000

You can now use Twitter People Search to track them down! Twitter is much more useful when you can find the accounts of your friends, colleagues, competitors or companies that interest you. So whether you are searching for a friend or for WeddingWire, just click the “Find People” in the navigation bar at the top of your Twitter homepage and search away!

Not into Twitter yet? Sign up for your free account today and let the fun begin!

Follow us on Twitter!

Happy Holidays from WeddingWire!

Meg — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:00:36 +0000

Wishing you good health, happiness, and success in the New Year!

Best Wishes,

The WeddingWire Team

Become WeddingWire Rated Before the New Year

Brian — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:41:55 +0000

Want to become WeddingWire Rated? Get 3 or more of your past clients to review your services and you become eligible to place the WeddingWire rated logo on your website! It’s a great way to let your past clients speak on your behalf - especially before the flux of new brides hits in the New Year!

Visit the Marketing section of your WeddingWire account today to get started!

New WeddingWire Contest Hits Denver

Meg — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:39:34 +0000

WeddingWire is teaming up with Colorado radio station, 92.5 THE WOLF, for the Denver’s Best Engagement Story contest. Listeners can submit a quick story about how they got engaged and will be entered to win a Rocky Mountain Bridal Show prize pack courtesy of WeddingWire.com! The prize pack is valued at $2500 and is complete with numerous gifts, including free services from the following vendors:

We would like to thank the vendors in advance who have donated their services for this contest! The Rocky Mountain Bridal Show will take place Sunday, January 4th from 11am to 4pm at the Colorado Convention Center. Click here for more information on the show.

Interested in being part of WeddingWire contests?
WeddingWire will be launching contests like this in different markets throughout 2009. If you are interested in donating your services in return for advertisement with WeddingWire and our contest partners (TV, radio, etc.), please email us at vendors@weddingwire.com.

Martha Stewart Weddings has a new site!

Meg — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:26:34 +0000

Martha Stewart Weddings has a new home! The wedding platform can now be accessed at www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. The site was previously located under a tab on Martha Stewart’s main site, www.MarthaStewart.com. This move will help drive more attention to their wedding platform and make the site more searchable. And since WeddingWire powers the network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools for their site, this new move will make it easier for brides to find you in the vendor catalog! Check it out today.

Google Adwords and Anayltics

Meg — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:01:33 +0000

Interested in learning how Google Analytics and Google AdWords works? Here are three useful Google slideshows I found in a Mashable blog post this morning that you might find useful as you prepare your marketing plans for the New Year:

An Introduction to Google Analytics - A quick explanation of what Google Analytics is and how it works.

An introduction to Google Analytics

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: webanalytics ga)

Google Analytics: Measuring Interactions - Demonstrates how Google Analytics measures website interactions (beyond pageviews).

Google Analytics

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: barcamppune bcp5)

Google AdWords- A demonstration of how Google AdWords works. It provides tips and suggestions too!

Google Adwords - Kick Start Course

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: training diy)

Inbound Marketing: an efficient way to market your business

Meg — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:28:44 +0000

With the current state of our economy, many companies are turning their efforts to Inbound Marketing because it is a more efficient way to market their business than traditional, Outbound Marketing.

Let’s take a look at the difference between the two types:

Outbound Marketing: Main goal is to find customers.
Inbound Marketing: Main goal is getting found by customers.

Outbound Marketing	Inbound Marketing
Trade Shows	Blogs
Telemarketing	Facebook
Print Advertising	Search Engine Optimization
Direct Mail	Pay-Per-Click

So why are companies now using more Inbound Marketing tactics? Here are a few reasons I found:

It costs less. Inbound Marketing is all about creating good content and talking about it. This can be done by starting a blog, creating a Facebook fan page, posting videos on YouTube, or using Twitter. All of these examples are free and can draw a significant amount of attention.
Better targeting. With Inbound Marketing you can be more selective when choosing your audience instead of targeting the masses.
It’s an investment, not an ongoing expense. If you invest money in creating content that puts you in the high rank of Google’s organic results (which is free), you will be there until someone else displaces you.

With the New Year only weeks away, it might be helpful to take a look at your own marketing plan and see if you can incorporate any of these Inbound Marketing tactics!

For more details on Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing, check out this great blog post from HubSpot.

Email marketing, the right way.

Meg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:51:52 +0000

With over 1/3 of all engagements projected to happen over the holidays and the New Year quickly approaching, now is the time for you to hone in on your marketing efforts! Over the next few days I will cover some different ways to help you do this. Today, let’s take a look at email marketing.

Emails can work as a means of advertisement. According to a recent MediaPost blog, email marketing is still the highest ROI channel and earning $45+ ROI for every dollar invested (DMA, 2008).

As mentioned in the blog, the key to email marketing is there is a right and wrong way to approach it. The wrong way involves sending the same email, multiple times. This tends to increase your list churn and drive readers away, making it very hard to earn back their respect.

The right way is to make sure that each email counts. Here is my take on a few good tips from the MediaPost blog that you can use to help you do this:

Get the tone right - Position your products and services so that they meet the need of your customers during the realities of our time (i.e. down economy, low budgets, etc.)
Realize that discounts are not the only motivator - Although discount emails can sometimes work, they tend to fall into the “wrong way” category if they are repeated too many times. Try providing helpful tips, value information, and timely offers in your emails. These can boost your response and protect your margin.
Integrate online channels - Use emails to spark a conversation that will continue to other social mediums, such as facebook, twitter, etc.
Ask for feedback in each email and every source of contact with your customers - It is key for you to monitor customer feedback and experience. Make sure you listen to what the customers are saying and communicate back with them. This is only going to benefit you in the long run!
Thank your customers - Send helpful tips and special offers to good customers and new buyers. This is a great chance for you to encourage your customers to tell their friends about you!

These tips and others listed in the MediaPost blog can help you become a smarter marketer and assist you in crafting your emails the right way!

Feel free to share any other email marketing tips you have personally had success with!

Team Rachael Ray’s Rescue Wedding

Meg — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:43:24 +0000

Christine Tremoulet Photography and Ashley K Photography, both featured vendors on the WeddingWire Network, recently joined services with other local vendors to help Team Rachael Ray throw a once-in-a-lifetime “Rescue Wedding” for victims of Hurricane Ike in Houston.

Thirty-three couples’ dreams of getting married were shattered earlier this year when they learned their venues had shut down after Hurricane Ike swept through Texas. With their locations lost and their money gone, the couples sadly had to put their dreams of getting married on hold. Thanks to the Rachael Ray Show and the generous local vendors, the couples were thrown a dream wedding at Minute Maid Park in just one week! Visit the Rachael Ray Show site for all the details!

Congratulations Christine, Ashley, and Team Rachael Ray for making so many dreams come true!

Newly Enhanced Vendor Portfolio

Meg — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:09:18 +0000

In my recent post I talked about the importance of using images to build out your WeddingWire Storefront. Well, now you will find it much easier to do so! With the newly enhanced Vendor Portfolio, your WeddingWire online image gallery, you can:

Save Time: Upload multiple images at the click of a mouse!
Get Organized: Click and drag images to put them in the order YOU want on your Storefront.
Tag your images: Simply choose a description or keyword “tag” to categorize your images, making them easier to share.

And in case you need even more incentive to start posting images, we will soon be publishing all tagged images to the Ideas section for brides to find you! Brides will be able to search the Ideas section images and save their favorite images to their account. And with your business name linked to all of your tagged images, this serves as yet another way to get your business name out there and reach brides!

Visit your Vendor Portfolio today and let the uploading, organizing, and most importantly tagging begin!

Top Photo Editing Sites

Meg — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:36:35 +0000

Pictures are a very important addition to building your storefront on the WeddingWire network (and not just for photographers)! They serve as a means to showcase your business to today’s wired brides, establishing a connection with them beyond words. Therefore, it is key to make sure they look good! I found this great list of the top online photo editing sites that you can use to edit your photos and even spice them up with different backgrounds or effects. And if you are a novice like me when it comes to photo editing, you might find these sites very helpful!

Here’s a few of my top choices:

DrPic.com- Upload your images to this free image editor, utilize the numerous tools and then save your work to a disk or to the Web in whatever format you choose.

FlauntR.com - This site is big on backgrounds, self-created magazine covers and basic editing tools. You can even purchase prints of any of your designs.

FotoFlexer.com - A completely free editor with numerous tools such as distortions, layers, effects, smart scissors and much more.

A little goes a long way

Brian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:46:07 +0000

Now that the election is finally over and it’s back to reality, the economy is still struggling. Those in the wedding industry have been relatively fortunate that the wedding industry tends to be more resilient compared to many other industries (think auto industry). That being said, as a business owner it’s still a time for compassion as we all need a little help from time to time. I was reading Seth Godin’s blog this morning and he wrote an insightful, two sentence post that I thought speaks volumes:

“Your customers and employees and investors will remember how you treated them when times were tough, when they needed a break, when a little support meant everything.

No one in particular will remember how you acted during the boom times.”

I thought this was a good quote for the current state of the union. This will mean different things to different people, but as business owners, the little things you can do for your customers holds the potential to help your business.

WeddingWire ventures to Dallas for the Great Bridal Expo!

Meg — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:55:04 +0000

Ashley Conway and Katie Peck of the WeddingWire team traveled to Dallas this past weekend for the Great Bridal Expo, a bridal showcase that hosts numerous shows across the county. There was a great turnout at this year’s show, which took place at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel. Ashley and Katie had a great time meeting the local vendors who attended the show, including Robin Brogan from Your Perfect Wedding by Di Fiori and Shezad Manjee from Hakim Sons Films, who are both featured vendors on the WeddingWire Network!

Check out some pictures from the show:

Ashley Conway and Katie Peck (WeddingWire) showcased our booth, handed out t-shirts, rings, and local vendor guides!

Robin and KT (Your Perfect Wedding by Di Fiori) got in the WeddingWire spirit and modeled our t-shirts

Shezad (Hakim Sons Films) stopped by to say hello

Ashley met local photographer Jory Cordy

A big thanks to all the vendors and brides who stopped by the booth! We look forward to seeing you again!

WeddingWire travels to NYC

Meg — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:52:59 +0000

We traveled to NYC earlier this week to attend two great events:

Martha Stewart Weddings Bridal Market Event

The Martha Stewart Weddings team hosted their annual Bridal Market event this past Monday at the Tavern on the Green. We were invited to attend and network with guests! The event was beautiful and we had a great time socializing with the Martha Stewart Weddings team and attending guests.

Here are a few pictures:

Carine Halabi (Carine’s Bridal Atelier), Darcy Miller (Martha Stewart Weddings), Lynn Carter, me, and Megan Hermeling (WeddingWire)

Vanessa Holden and Darcy Miller (Martha Stewart Weddings), Mrs. Bee (Weddingbee), Lee Wang and Lynn Carter (WeddingWire)

The Wedding Salon

We attended the Wedding Salon bridal showcase on Wednesday, where the latest wedding trends were displayed. The Wedding Salon bridal showcase brings together the leading vendors and the top spenders in the wedding industry. This year’s show took place at beautiful venue, The Prince George Ballroom, and showcased a variety of great vendors. We even got to meet one of our featured NYC officiants, Rabbi Andrea Frank!

Take a look at some pictures:

Rabbi Andrea Frank (A featured vendor listed on WeddingWire) and Katie Peck (WeddingWire)

Table design by Marc Wilson Design

Bridal model and me

Table design by The Lincoln Center

7 items for effective page titles

Brian — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:44:24 +0000

Page titles are essential to your web pages for a several reasons, which include SEO and usability. Page titles are one of the first items that search engine spiders crawl when indexing your site, so page titles need to be relevant to the content on that page. Additionally, that page title appears in search engine results so if you want click throughs, it needs to be relevant. Ann Smarty at Search Engine Journal details 7 criteria for effective page titles that are good to keep in mind when building or updating your website:

page title should be short and concise (unless you want it’s broken at the end);
each page title should be unique and the unique part should go first (if a visitor keeps several tabs from the same open, he should clearly see what each tab is about);
it should be catchy (to communicate an effective message);
page title should conform to the page purpose (e.g. calling to action or informational);
page title should be based on your keywords (for Googlebot to understand what the page is about);
page title should be focused (don’t try to include all your keywords in the title the home page);
page title should be semantically correct (Google is likely to apply some kind of semantic analysis to titles to make sure they are not spammy).

Cleveland Rocks!

Brian — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:44:45 +0000

This past Friday we traveled to Cleveland for the last Running of the Brides event of 2008. The turn out was great, in fact it was double what they had last year. A record was almost shattered here as well. The first sale of the morning happened at 8:16am, the record for quickest sale is 8:14am. Finding a dress inside of 20 minutes is simply amazing considering how long it takes most women to find their dress.

There are some photos from the event on our Flickr page. We also had Billy J Disc Jockeys to entertain the crowd starting at 6am. There’s nothing like some electric slide at 6:45 in the morning!

Electric Slide - Running of the Brides from Brian on Vimeo.

Thanks to My Wedding in a Week Sponsors!

Meg — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:41:51 +0000

The My Wedding in a Week contest in Philadelphia, presented by My 106.1 and WeddingWire, concluded last Friday as the winning couple, Lisa and Victor, walked down the aisle of the Columbus Ballroom in the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, and then celebrated with friends and family over a Champagne Brunch. Starting on October 3, the winning couple had 7 days to plan their wedding live on the radio with WeddingWire and our team of professionals from the Philadelphia area, including The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants.

All and all the event was a huge success thanks to My 106.1 and the team of professionals who worked very hard (and very quickly) to make Lisa and Victor’s dream come true! WeddingWire would like to sincerely thank everyone at My 106.1 and the participating vendors for making this event a complete success from start to finish!

Participating vendors included:

Check out the My 106.1 contest page for highlights from the event!

6 PPC strategies to consider during these economic times

Brian — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:06:06 +0000

I’m sure many of you hear the same thing I do: the wedding industry is recession proof. And indeed there is some truth to that because people will always want to get married. But as the news seems to get worse each and the stock market continues it tumble downward, being prudent would be a smart idea right now. As a wedding vendor you have to consider your budgets carefully and as many of you start advertising on the search engines PPC ad systems, competition will drive the cost up over time. The folks over at the Rimm-Kaufman Group Blog noted 6 strategies to consider right now that I think are worth paying attention to:

Have clear economic targets. Be exact with how much traffic you want or will spend. Don’t be vague right now.
Use strong bid management tools. If you outsource your PPC, stay in touch with your account manager. If you do it yourselves, keep a watchful eye on it. Don’t just let your PPC campaigns sit around.
Shift ad dollars to stronger channels. Consider all your advertising options and use the methods with the greatest return, which may mean putting more into paid search and less into bridal events for instance.
Seek capped agency or technology fees. Just make sure if you outsource your PPC campaigns, that fees don’t eat into your margins too heavily.
Protect your bottom line first. Revenue targets set in 2007 may not work right now and you’ve got to be constantly adjust your targets right now. Protect your bottom line, what that mean a year ago is probably different right now.
Stay calm. Don’t over react and don’t be afraid to be creative with your advertising and constantly be testing new ad units.

Top 10 Places to Surf

Meg — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:02:56 +0000

Last week WeddingWire’s CEO, Timothy Chi, and CMO, Sonny Ganguly, joined many of you at the 5th annual Wedding MBA convention and presented on the best ways to reach today’s wired bride. You might remember them best as “Harold and Kumar”! So many of you asked to have “Sonny’s Top 10 Places to Surf ” that we thought we would just share with everyone:

1. MySpace - 71,486,821
• Build a profile for your business
• Browse through your network and connect
2. Facebook - 42,777,397
• Create a fan page for your business
• Build a wedding group or participate
3. Ning - 3,757,563
• Build your personal niche social network
4. WordPress - 134,875,738
• Create your blog and build incoming links
• Participate and comment on wedding blogs
5. Twitter - 1,723,476
• Create a following with your micro-blog
6. YouTube - 73,537,222
• Showcase your business with video content
7. Flickr - 22,511,915
• Create online photo albums and tag your pics
8. Digg - 21,632,429
• Build incoming links to the content on your site
9. Upcoming.Yahoo.com - 3,419,626
• Broadcast your events and the places you will be
10. Answers.Yahoo.com - 23,386,964
• Share your expert knowledge with brides-to-be

Share which of these you are currently using and feel free to post links to your pages with your comments!

You have no social media presence? 93% of Americans say you should

Brian — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:59:30 +0000

Well maybe not all americans, but Cone Inc, a communications company, released the results of a survey they did of 1092 people earlier this month about their social media habits that I found on Search Engine Watch. The results of the survey indicate that 93% of the participants say that a company should have some sort of social media presence. Additionally, 85% of the same group say that the same companies should be interacting with them on social media outlets. Other findings include:

When asked about specific types of interactions, Americans believe:

Companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%)
Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%)
Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%)
Companies should market to consumers (25%)

It’s an interesting study that supports the common notion that social media should be a part of your overall marketing plan. Whether it’s a Facebook Fan page, a Myspace profile, a Flickr profile, or a company blog, customers today have many places to visit on the web today so being where they are is going to be key to attracting new business.

What social media avenues are you using to reach today’s brides? What has or hasn’t worked? What are your barriers to using social media if you don’t already?

WeddingWire to present at Wedding MBA conference

Brian — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:21:15 +0000

Today, Timothy Chi, our Chief Executive Officer, and Sonny Ganguly, our Chief Marketing Officer, will be keynote speakers at the fifth annual Wedding MBA convention, America’s largest educational event dedicated to the business side of the wedding business. This year’s conference will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, and kicks off on September 22 and concludes on September 23. Tim’s topics will cover the latest technology trends in the marketplace and how businesses can take advantage of them. Sonny will be presenting on the different ways you can market your business online for no cost.
For more information on the conference, please visit the conference website.

2 Ways to Jazz Up Your Online Documents

Brian — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:19:23 +0000

I read many articles each week on new things in social media and the rest of the Web 2.0 world, but I’ve come across two new companies that make presenting your online documents so much more professional.

The first is called Issuu.com. This company lets you upload a PDF document and it will turn it into a Flash version of the document to link or embed on your website. Here’s an example from Practical Photography magazine using it to put the magazine online. As a wedding vendor, I can envision you using this to show off your portfolio or even as a new way to manage your sales documents online. This small, embedable version opens up to a full version by clicking on it.

Get your own - Open publication

The second is Flowgram. This company allows you to create online presentations that incorporate images, powerpoint, and even live webpages. Additionally, you can narrate your presentation by recording audio and music. You can place your online gallery of photos (even if it’s on flickr already) on your website, but with Flowgram, you can narrate it. You can literally tell prospective clients how you designed this piece or what the newlywed couple was doing here or your inspiration for something else. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Flowgram lets you put a few of those words with your image. Here’s an another embedable example:

Wedding in a Week

Brian — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:51:28 +0000

WeddingWire has partnered up with My 106.1 FM in Philadelphia for a Wedding in a Week contest where one lucky couple will literally have a week to plan their wedding…with the help of WeddingWire’s great vendor base. The actual wedding will take place on 10/10/08.

This is an interesting contest for us and we hope that one lucky couple will make the most of this experience. The typicaly wedding planning cycle is almost 16 months and we’re shrinking it down to just 6 days! Voting starts this weekend on My1061.com. Anyone can vote, but you’ll need to be in Philadelphia to actually see the wedding. So be sure to check out My1061.com this weekend and choose the couple you feel is most deserving.

Here are some of the participating wedding vendors making this event possible:

9/11…A Day of Rememberence

Brian — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:02:26 +0000

In honor of our fallen heroes of 9/11, I hope everyone takes a moment to remember those who passed in the tragedies on this day 7 years ago.

Ironically, I also came across a new social network dedicated to remember those that have passed called Footnote which recently presented at the TechCrunch 50 conference. Footnote bills itself as the “Easiest way to gather and share the unique life of someone or something special.” So perhaps if you’re ever in need of a place to digitally remember someone, you might try Footnote….apparently 80+ million other people already have.