We have heard volumes, over the last couple of years about recession. Many people in business, today, had not experienced a significant economic downturn in their lifetime. The massive upheaval, of recent times, has thrown both business owners and individuals, into turmoil.

The companion word to recession is deflation, and it bears better understanding and discussion.

The Definition of Deflation

Deflation is occurring when asset and consumer prices continue to fall. This may seem like a great thing to consumers, except that the cause for deflation is a long-term drop in demand. Unfortunately, a drop in demand means that a recession is already underway, with job losses, declining wages, and an ongoing decline in the value of your home and your stock portfolio. Deflation is a result of businesses dropping prices in a desperate attempt to get people to buy their products.

Most business people will agree with these profiles, but almost as many probably believe that market conditions do not apply to their business. That is blue-sky thinking of the worst kind.

Examples of industries that wear ‘supply and demand’ on their sleeve are categories such as: Real Estate, Travel, Hotels, Airlines, among others. When big business catches a cold, small business gets pneumonia.

Living in Las Vegas gives one a magnified view of these factors, and the financial relationship between big and small businesses.

While a small business may grouse about not being able to close sales at 2007 levels. Go ahead and complain. I look at first class hotels, such as Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas, among many others that were charging $350+ per night, and now, frequently ask $129 for the same room, including some credit give backs for other outlets within the hotel.

Just this week, a new hotel, the Cosmopolitan begins booking its doors to 3000 new rooms that will opening December 15, 2010. This,  in a city that would benefit more from a room reduction. The hotel sits on the west side of the strip, shoehorned between the Bellagio and the new City Center complex. Cosmopolitan has no affiliation with a larger hotel group in Las Vegas, so it’s decidedly on its own.

One of my all-time favorites, Southwest Airlines, bucked the industry trend of charging for checked luggage. At a recent shareholders meeting, it was learned that the strategy had earned them an additional 1% in market share. That single percent, in the airline industry is worth a boatload of gross sales and profit.

So what about you? We, as a country, and the wedding industry, too, have been mired in recession, and yes, a deflation for a considerable amount of time.

Have you made the necessary adjustments in your business, and more important, in your thinking, to reconfigure, reframe, reorganize. One can’t just slash prices. It takes massive planning and reassessment to address a plethora of issues.

For me, Exhibit A & B are two of the top hotels in this city… or any city, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas. Their radical pricing, to keep occupancy at acceptable levels, tells me that no business is immune.

And for the upside, where there are problems, there are usually opportunities.

It is not a time for tweaks and adjustments. In many cases, it is time for massive action.

What massive action are you taking?

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

===

014f58ad3c6f488dbe89b93e9f65d1a4

Share on Facebook

This post is the third of a recap series about a meeting of the Las Vegas Wedding Network. Seven brides spoke and answered questions about their wedding planning experience. –

As the audience soaked up the question to, and answers from, the panel of 7 brides (no brothers), one could tell what those listening wanted to hear.

Where you getting information, what value did you put on it, and what influenced your decision making?

Some of the discussion points included:

• All-Inclusive Venues – Brides that selected these where short on time, or overwhelmed by process, so this seemed like a convenient route. But as they moved forward, they opted out on some of the venue-exclusive-vendors, and chose ones that suited them better. They viewed this as an unfortunate excess expenditure.
• Credibility – Brides talk to brides, who are in the planning process during a similar period. This was both in person (at bridal shows and business showcases) as well as on wedding chat boards. The tipping point here was mostly on the negative. Brides were put off by one business bad mouthing other businesses, and dropped them like a hot rock, when hearing that from other brides. in my opinion, they put good value on reading lots of reviews from former brides and too much value on the opinion of brides-in-process. The latter has not had a complete vendor experience. They don’t know the final result, so it appeared to me that was, at best, incomplete information.
• Reciprocal Links: Brides put significant value of a businesses that appeared to work together on a regular basis, as shown by link directories on their websites. One bride said her result from working with a cluster wedding vendors, such as these was: “Like having seven wedding planners working together, in concert. They were so comfortable communicating with each other, I didn’t have to give anything a thought.”

Here is the big question that wasn’t asked:

In your planning experience, when it came to Preferred Vendor Lists, Exclusive Vendor Lists, All-Inclusive arrangements, did anyone explain a financial arrangement between venue and vendor?

The issue for me, is an ethical one: Transparency

A venue can represent that they only working with vendors that know their property, its guidelines, and perform well for the client (OK… that sounds pretty good). However, if they are receiving a significant referral fee for this arrangement, they formula changes. Is the bride truly getting access to the wedding vendor, appropriately suited for her wants and desires. Or, is a bride over-limited because the host venue is raking in invisible revenue, without disclosure?

Disclosure and Transparency: Two important words that didn’t come up in the discussion. Wish I had remembered to ask the question. It’s the kind of verbal grenade I love throwing into the middle of a room and watching people squirm in their sites.

I’m not a wedding vendor, these days, so I can do that.

Would love your comments on Transparency and Disclosure, if you have the gumption to speak up in a public forum.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

Men and their tools. In our minds, we form an image of a man at Sears, drooling over the latest drill or gadget. Kind of funny… Somewhat sweeping, in its generalization.

One can have the latest tool for home improvement, but if you don’t know how to use it, the effort will be a failure.

The same is true in the wedding industry. The tools are wedding marketing media: magazine ads, social media, bridal shows, websites, postcards, and much more.

When a business has a marketing failure, it MUST have been the medium: the magazine, the wedding show, a lack of traffic to the website, or whatever the medium in question.

My response to this:

“Laying the blame on the wedding marketing medium is usually off-point. Far more often than not, the culprit is failure to have a well-crafted message.”

Business people are easily drawn to the new shiny object. The new bridal show in town, the new publication, the latest social media tool.

That’s all very nice. There is always something new to carry your message.

But in the end, if you don’t know how to swing a hammer, it doesn’t matter how shiny and new the hammer is. Why not take a lesson or two on using the hammer. In the case of wedding marketing, develop better ads, really prepare for a bridal show, keep your website current, have a Facebook strategy, and don’t let your blog get lost in the weeds.

Come to Wedding MBA and learn more about swinging wedding marketing hammer.

September 21-23, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Share on Facebook

Every decision you make about advertising, networking, printing, website, social media, and a host of other opportunities, comprises your total wedding marketing effort.

The question of the day is this:

How much dedicated planning to you put into your wedding marketing effort? In a day, week, month, or throughout the year.

Before you answer, let’s examine the word, dedicated. My notion is that dedicated time means uninterrupted and focused. By yourself, or in a meeting with other key people.

If you are making these decisions one-by-one, then you don’t really have a wedding marketing plan. It takes a global view of your sales, leads, appointments, closing ratio, as well as the elements of each promotional effort to assemble and manage a cohesive wedding marketing plan.

The final question is this:

Do you have a cohesive wedding marketing effort, in a written plan, or seat-of-the-pants wedding marketing decision making?

Your thoughts are welcome.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

As posted on this blog, The Wedding Marketing Authority, Andy Ebon, has become a regular contributor for the new wedding publication, Wedlock Magazine. As part of its regular offerings, Wedlock will be presenting two webinars, monthly, to its subscribers.

No time has been wasted in putting Andy to work. He has submitted his first column for Wedlock‘s second issue. In rapid succession, Wedlock is inviting you to sample a webinar presentation, by Andy, titled: Business Success Through Associations.

This promises to be more than a basic networking presentation. Rather, it will get into more complex issues about relationship building and the unadvertised benefits and pitfalls of involvement in trade associations and networking groups.

You are invited to participate, with my compliments (that means, at no charge). Here is the complete text of the invitation by Wedlock Editor-In-Chief, Jayne Hallock.

You are  invited to register for next week’s webinar, which occurs on Wednesday at 7pm EST. Our guest host is the irrepressible, very experienced and uber-charming Andy Ebon.

Not only is he our new WedLock columnist (look for his debut column in next month’s issue), but he’s agreed to talk to WedLock readers about how to squeeze the most out of their association memberships! We all have them…now let’s really put them to work for our businesses.

This webinar,  titled “Business Success Through Associations” and here’s what Andy and Chris will cover:

“Andy will take us on a guided tour of the various kinds of organizations that call for involvement by wedding industry businesses, and appropriate strategies and techniques for maximizing one’s investment of time and effort.

Some of the takeaways will include:

• What are realistic expectations for your involvement?
• What the *published* benefits of membership in an organization…and what are the hidden gems?
• The differences between a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and a for-profit organization.
• Knowing an opportunity for a good donation when you see it, and understanding how and when to say “No.”
• Understanding the difference between membership, volunteerism, and leadership.
• Which organizations, by type, and which, specifically should get a closer look from you.

Remember – the first hour or so is dedicated to Andy’s presentation, and then we open the lines for questions!

Click here to register now, and reserve your spot!

~Jayne Leigh Hallock
Editor-In-Chief
Wedlock Magazine

Hope you’ll join the webinar. Please feel free to share this post and spread the word.

Thanks in advance,

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

About now, you might think I have some sort of grudge against Bella Pictures. You’d be wrong. I’m just incredulous at the marketing techniques it employs to sell its services to brides.

For those getting up to speed, Bella Pictures is a nationwide photography booking agency that employs local photographers on a job-by-job basis. The company first contracts with the bride, and then creates a match with a photographer. The results are all-over-the-board, judging by a huge sample of online reviews.

A while back, Bella Pictures created a second company, Studio Blue, using, essentially, the same business model, but positioning it as a lower price service for a more budget-conscioous bride.

The image shown, upper right, appears on the welcome screen of the Bella Pictures website. That, in itself, seems pretty odd. It’s hard to understand why a photography company would want to send you away from its site, to another photography site, even if they are under the same ownership.

The banner touts Wedding Photography for Under $1000. The banner link takes you to the Studio Blue welcome screen. All well and good, so far. Studio Blue presents a nicely designed site, with portfolio and sleek system to check availability and book services.

Here’s the rub: If you enter your date and location, or just proceed to the packages and pricing screen, there is something missing….. Photography at under $1000.

Photography coverage begins at $1240 (6 hours). Recommended coverage being 8 hours, plus an album, priced at $2340, inclusive.

Excuse me, but what part of Wedding Photography at under $1000 have I missed.

Opinion: The banner information is so obviously misleading that further comment won’t add much. I just continue to be dumbfounded how one company can be brazenly manipulative. This type of wedding marketing strategy does a disservice to brides, and to the wedding industry, generally.

If you think I’ve overlooked anything, please feel free to jump in, and comment with your thoughts.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Share on Facebook

I thought long and hard before writing this post, because it criticizes the work of another wedding marketing blogger. However, I find this post, Valuing Your Wedding Services: Am I Undercutting? to contain some serious misinformation, refuted by the Marketing 101 class I took at the University of Arizona, and what I’ve learned every year, in the decades since.

One should read the entire post, for context, but this section stands out like a sore thumb.

“The Factors that Should Determine Pricing
Prices should be determined based on standard factors including:
• A calculation of how much you want to earn in a year
• The cost to you of the products or services that you sell
• A factor of your overall annual business expenses including marketing, office supplies and labor”

Excuse me, but this is unadulterated nonsense.

The three items noted have some relationship to your cost of goods or services, but they have absolutely no relationship to what you may elect to charge, or someone may be willing to pay for those goods or services.

Prospects and customers often have unrealistic budgets, based on throwing darts, antiquated fees paid by their sister-in-law, five years ago in Oshkosh, or some other obscure set of factors. Actual spending in your market, typically will cover a range of fees, from the part-time, amateur, to the platinum level, high service professional.

When talking to a prospect about working with them, the notion of your costs is the furthest thing from their mind. They are concerned with service and price.

What you might charge, and whether that will be accepted by client after client is based on the following.

Making the case for that the price you charge has specific value worth paying for, by a ready, willing, and able buyer. You must be able to clearly differentiate your specific client benefits from your competitors. And, this does not necessarily mean you will have the highest fees for service. It does mean you will be perceived as the right fit for the client.

In the final analysis, our worth is not based upon our costs of doing business or what we feel our goods and services should sell for.

Note: Normally, I try to mask my annoyance with bad information. This, however, is one of those times that I simply cannot.

==

Just one sidebar of advice: If you’re constantly sold out, and never turning away business because of price, then your pricing is too low.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

The face of this lovely woman is that of a thief. A self-entitled, cold-blooded thief. She is stealing, everyday, from her employer.

She’s not going into the cash register or embezzling from the company checking account. She is stealing time.

Statistics from national wedding websites and your site, too, document the obvious. The fact that site traffic spikes during the middle of the day and beyond. Let’s just say the activity surpasses the constraints of a bride’s lunch hour. She is spending significant time, on the job, helping herself, on company time.

In a discussion with a fellow wedding professional, learned the story of one of his employees who had become engaged. Her work productivity had dipped significantly, causing him concern and curiosity.

The business owner had the IT manager redirect her computer activity to a secondary monitor in his office. He was aghast to find that on many days, up to 90% of her time was spent on her wedding planning, not her job.

This is anecdotal, extreme evidence of the overall nature of many brides. The wedding industry, to a great degree, fosters and promotes a mindset known best as “It’s all about me.”

This outlook often creeps into discussions and negotiations with wedding vendors, such as you. Do not confuse selling-to-the-bride as a long term relationship. If she can contract the best service for her needs, and pay next-to-nothing for it, she will. All too many brides go further, losing sight of value, and becoming focused on price.

Your job, in representing your enterprise, in good sales fashion, is to refocus the bride on the relative value of your product or service, and how it is important to her wedding and reception.

To the extent that you are able to make your case, breaking through the self-entitled, prima donna outlook of too many brides, you will serve the client well, and win more negotiations.

If you think the value of your service is a no-brainer, you’ll lose the sale more often than you should. Don’t blame the bride. Polish your sales and marketing skills and take control. Remember, you’re the wedding professional. Not the other way around.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

On the road again. This time to Atlanta, Georgia, for two wedding marketing seminars, hosted by The Georgia Bridal Show and The Southern Bridal Show.

Bridal Show Producer, Tommy Vaughn, is bringing me in to present, Selling to Today’s Bride and Building A Focused Social Media Strategy, in two afternoon sessions at the Gwinnett Center, in Duluth.

As always, session material has been refreshed, recently, to keep pace with industry and communication changes.

If you do business in Greater Atlanta, there is still time to register. If you know someone in the area, who you think might benefit, please pass on the information.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook

Never one to duck a tough question, Andy Ebon used a verbal flamethrower in labeling ad-supported banquet publications as fatally flawed. A medium he described as “perfectly legal, but fraught with conflicts of interest and ultimately bad for the venue, the vendor, and the client.”

The question was posed as “What do you think about ‘pay to play’?” After decoding, the question was clarified as: “What do you think about vendors advertising within banquet publications, tied to individual venues?”

Background: If you are not familiar with this particular style of marketing, it works something like this. A printer/publisher approaches a venue (hotel, country club, etc.,) with the following proposition.

“We will publish a full-color brochure presenting your banquet services that will cost your venue nothing. It will be paid for by advertising of vendors. All you need to is provide us your preferred vendor list and content for the brochure. We will do the rest. It will save you a bundle.”

The ‘deal‘ is rarely, if ever, made at the Director of Catering level. The proposition is made to the Food and Beverage Manager or General Manager, in most cases. Free banquet publication. Just insert a price list. What could possibly be bad about this? Plenty!!

The Call to You: “Hi, I’m Jim Bob, working with Katy Caterer at the XYZ Country Club, how are you doing today?”

And with that, the misrepresentations and half-truths begin. Jim Bob is working WITH, not FOR, the XYZ Country Club. The rep is working for Blue Rhino Publishing (a fictitious name), not for the venue.

Want a clear answer as to who, exactly, they work for? Ask who (what company) signs their paycheck?

The Pitch, in short:

Katy really values your work for her clients at the club, and asked me to reach out to preferred vendors, such as you, to support her new in-house banquet publication. Only select vendors have been invited to advertise. It will be given to all wedding prospects, free of charge, to help promote your work at the venue. Here are the advertising choices…… Can Katy count on your participation?

Here are just some of the conflicting issues:

• What is implied, but usually goes unsaid is: “If you don’t advertise in the publication, you will be dropped from the preferred vendor list. Going forward, the publication will become ‘the preferred vendor list.”
• If the publisher does not fill the brochure with vendors from the preferred list, they often search out advertisers who may not have a relationship with property. Odd for the caterer when they receive the banquet publication, showing ads from unfamiliar vendors. A vendor crap-shoot for the prospective client.
• If venue management changes, it is not uncommon to change marketing direction and throw the banquet publications AND YOUR MARKETING MONEY in the trash.
• If you choose not to advertise in the publication, but have a great relationship with Katy Caterer, she may tell you, “Don’t worry, I’ll continue to refer you.” While this may appear fine for you, it shows a clear ethical flaw. The venue is taking paid ads with the offer of some exclusivity, but has little problem compromising that premise. This is commonly referred to as: Situational Ethics.
• If an advertiser does some stinko work (a technical term) for a venue client, their ad remains in the brochure, until the distribution is exhausted. Venues have been known to draw an X through vendors they no longer recommend. Tacky? Of course, whether these vendors earned their black mark or not, they shouldn’t expect a partial refund for their ad.

Your opinion matters. Speak Up!

Now it’s time for your opinion:

• What have your experience been with this medium? Good, bad or indifferent.
• There are surely other weaknesses in this type of program. What has been missed in this post?
• As a vendor or venue, what is your recommendation, based on  your direct experiences and those you have observed.

There is an old adage that applies best to this kind of marketing, for all parties concerned.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Share on Facebook